*  NOV  22 1923  * 


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O’Flaherty,  Claude,  1878- 
Health  and  religion 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


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HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


BY  THE  REV. 


CLAUDE  'D’FLAHERTY 


M.B.,  Ch.B.,  Edin. 

AUTHOR  OP 

‘THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION  AND  MENTAL 
AND  SPIRITUAL  HEALING’ 


WITH  A  FOREWORD  BY 
THE  RIGHT  REV. 

THE  LORD  BISHOP  OF  EDINBURGH 


HODDER  AND  STOUGHTON  LTD. 

LONDON  NEW  YORK  TORONTO 


MCMXXIII 


Made  and  Printed  in  Great  Britain, 
Turnbull  Spears^  Edinburgh 


FOREWORD 


BY  THE 

BISHOP  OF  EDINBURGH 

There  is  no  subject  of  more  importance 
and  interest  than  that  suggested  by  the 
title  of  this  book.  The  author,  our  Senior 
Chaplain  at  the  Cathedral,  is  well  equipped 
for  dealing  with  it.  As  a  fully  qualified 
doctor,  bearing  the  Medical  Degree  of  our 
own  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  as  a 
priest  of  many  years’  standing,  with  experi¬ 
ence  in  mental  and  spiritual  healing,  he 
combines  the  qualities  necessary  to  any  one 
who  would  teach  Christian  people  on  the 
subject  of  Health  and  Religion.  The  book 
speaks  for  itself  and  needs  no  words  of  com¬ 
mendation  from  me.  I  hope  that  many 
will  read  it,  and  I  am  sure  that  no  one  will 
do  so  without  feeling  the  better  for  its  wise 
counsels. 

GEORGE 

Bishop  of  Edinburgh 


PREFACE 


I  AM  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Chancellor  Perry, 
Principal  of  the  Theological  College  of  the 
Scottish  Episcopal  Church,  for  his  kindness 
in  reading  the  MS.  of  this  book,  and  for  some 
valuable  advice  as  to  its  subject  matter,  for 
which,  however,  he  is  in  no  way  responsible. 
To  many  other  teachers  I  am  also  no  doubt 
indebted  for  many  ideas  which  have  passed 
into  my  mind  and  become  my  own,  but  where 
I  have  consciously  borrowed,  I  have  acknow¬ 
ledged  my  debt  in  the  text. 

C.  O’FLAHERTY 


6 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE  . 

CHAPTER  II 

man’s  relation  to  god  . 

CHAPTER  III 

HEALTH,  ITS  MAINTENANCE  AND  REPAIR 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE  HEALING  MINISTRY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

CHAPTER  V 

GRACE  AND  THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  {continued) 

CHAPTER  VII 


PAGE 

9 


21 


39 


52 


58 


72 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH 


7 


85 


8 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


PENITENCE 

CHAPTER  VIH 

•  •  •  • 

• 

• 

PAGE 

100 

CHARITY  . 

CHAPTER  IX 

•  •  •  • 

• 

• 

II7 

CHAPTER  X 

HOLY  COMMUNION 

• 

• 

129 

THE  MINISTRY 

CHAPTER  XI 

OF  ABSOLUTION  . 

• 

• 

140 

SACRAMENTAL 

CHAPTER  XII 

HEALING 

• 

• 

150 

PRAYER 

CHAPTER  XIII 

•  •  •  • 

• 

• 

160 

CHAPTER  XIV 

MINISTERING  TO  THE  SICK  . 

• 

• 

171 

HEALTH  AND  KELIGION 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE 

The  title  of  this  book,  “  Health  and  Religion,” 
calls  for  some  preliminary  definition  of  terms. 
Health  I  take  to  mean  two  things  :  harmony 
of  working  within  the  organism,  internal 
health ;  and  successful  adaptation  of  the 
organism  to  its  environment  without.  By 
religion  I  understand  the  conscious  relation¬ 
ship  of  mankind  with  God.  The  health  of 
a  human  being  is  a  larger  thing  than  the 
health  of  an  animal,  inasmuch  as  human 
nature  is  something  more  than  animal  nature. 
The  environment  to  which  man  seeks  adapta¬ 
tion  is  not  merely  physical,  but  also  mental 
and  spiritual.  And  the  health  of  one  who 
believes  that  his  environment  is  God,  “  for 
in  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being,”  necessarily  involves  the  question  of 
his  relation  to  God,  that  is,  his  religion. 
So  the  consideration  of  health  and  rehgion 
leads  to  the  examination  of  human  nature 


B 


9 


10 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


and  of  the  revelation  of  God  which  man 
has  received  through  Jesus  Christ.  We  are 
led  to  the  desire  to  know  ourselves,  and  to 
know  God. 

We  turn  our  attention  first  to  the  examina¬ 
tion  of  our  human  nature,  its  composition 
and  capacities.  The  quest  for  self-knowledge 
leads  us  to  travel  far,  and  many  guides  are 
available  to  conduct  us  on  different  sections 
of  the  way.  The  anatomist  describes  for  us 
this  body  of  ours,  and  explains  the  relation¬ 
ships  of  its  various  parts,  the  framework 
of  bones,  and  ligaments,  and  joints,  and 
muscles,  and  skin ;  the  various  organs, 
glands,  etc.,  the  blood-vessels  and  lymphatics, 
and  the  intricate  system  of  nerves  which  has 
its  great  centres  of  sensation  and  movement 
and  control  in  that  not  yet  fully  explored 
region,  the  brain.  To  the  help  of  the 
anatomist  has  come  mightily  the  histologist 
with  his  microscope,  who  displays  to  our 
wondering  eyes  the  minute  order  and  arrange¬ 
ment  of  the  tiny  units  of  which  our  bodies 
are  composed,  the  cells.  He  shows  the 
structure  of  our  nerve- cells  and  fibres,  the 
intricate  arrangements  of  the  cell-layers  in 
the  eye,  and  in  the  ear,  the  wonderful  organs 
of  sense,  the  arrangement  of  the  contractile 


EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE  11 


tissues  which  make  movement  possible,  and 
the  various  kinds  of  cells  which  are  found 
in  the  blood,  and  whose  activity  justifies 
us  in  calling  the  blood  not  merely  a  fluid, 
but  an  organ.  The  anatomist  and  histologist, 
however,  are  concerned  merely  with  structure  : 
they  describe  the  form  of  the  body,  but  not 
its  activities.  Our  guide  to  the  active  working 
of  the  body  is  the  physiologist.  He  describes 
the  body  with  special  reference  to  its  multi¬ 
tudinous  activity  as  a  living  thing,  how 
movement  is  effected  by  the  contraction  of 
muscle-fibres  in  obedience  to  nerve-impulses 
which  travel  down  the  motor-nerves  from 
motor- centres  in  the  nervous  system.  He 
describes  the  difference  between  the  volun¬ 
tary  muscles  which  contract  in  obedience 
to  conscious  commands,  and  the  involuntary 
muscles  (part  of  the  structure  of  all  our 
internal  organs)  the  action  of  which  is  not 
normally  within  our  conscious  control.  He 
describes  the  mechanism  of  sensation,  e,g, 
how  sensations  of  touch  travel  from  the  toe 
or  finger  to  the  cortex  of  the  brain,  and 
examines  the  working  of  the  special  senses 
such  as  the  eye  and  ear.  He  enquires  into 
the  specialised  work  of  the  different  organs, 
and  asks  how  it  is  that  an  acid  digestive 


12 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


fluid  is  secreted  by  the  stomach,  and  an 
alkaline  juice  by  the  intestines.  He  dis¬ 
cusses  the  function  of  the  liver  and  spleen, 
and  with  the  aid  of  the  physiological  chemist 
explores  the  activities,  still  little  known, 
of  the  ductless  glands  and  the  purposes  of 
their  internal  secretions.  This  is  a  new 
and  important  field  of  exploration  which 
has  lately  been  discovered,  and  great 
hopes  are  raised  that  as  we  come  to  dis¬ 
cover  more  fully  the  activities  of  such 
glands  as  the  thyroid,  thymus,  the  pitui¬ 
tary  body,  the  suprarenals,  etc.,  we  shall 
come  to  understand  more  fully  the  pheno¬ 
mena  of  growth,  and  the  balance  of  health 
in  the  body,  and  so  be  able  to  modify  the 
course  of  diseases  that  have  hitherto  baffled 
the  physician. 

Both  the  anatomist  and  the  physiologist, 
as  they  describe  the  structure  and  the 
working  of  the  human  body,  refer  us  to  the 
biologist,  whose  province  it  is  to  study  the 
anatomy  and  life-processes  of  all  the  members 
of  the  animal  kingdom  among  whom  man 
finds  a  place.  And  the  biologist,  in  examining 
the  phenomena  of  life,  falls  back  upon  the 
work  of  the  physicist,  whose  business  it  is  to 
analyse  and  describe  the  properties  of  “  life- 


EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE  13 


less  matter,”  and  to  formulate  chemical  and 
physical  “  laws,”  ix,  descriptions  of  the 
relations  of  the  different  bodies  to  one 
another.  It  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind, 
in  view  of  the  frequent  confusions  of  thought 
on  the  point,  that  a  “  law  of  nature  ”  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  a  description  of 
how  things  are  observed  to  happen  in  the 
natural  world.  As  observation  becomes  more 
accurate,  and  descriptions  are  enabled  by 
better  instruments  to  become  more  closely 
approximate  to  the  truth,  the  laws  of  nature 
are  from  time  to  time  restated.  Scientists 
are  at  this  moment  engaged  in  the  task  of 
restating  the  law  of  gravitation,  in  view  of 
Einstein’s  theory  of  relativity. 

All  our  scientific  guides  to  truth  take 
something  for  granted,  some  basis  on  which 
they  found  their  science.  Beyond  these  data 
they  do  not  go,  the  territory  beyond  the 
datum  line  they  leave  to  other  enquirers. 
Each  science  has  its  own  field  in  which 
it  analyses  and  describes.  Science  never 
attempts  to  give  a  complete  explanation, 
for  it  always  takes  certain  data  for  granted, 
such  as  life,”  ‘‘  matter,”  “  energy.”  If 
you  ask  a  scientist  what  matter  is,  he  will 
tell  you  it  is  none  of  his  business  to  answer 


14 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


such  a  question ;  he  leaves  that  to  the 
metaphysician. 

Starting  from  a  point  of  time  millions 
upon  millions  of  years  ago,  after  the  sun 
had  hurled  off  a  nebula  which  in  process 
of  time  became  the  earth,  with  just  these 
substances  on  its  cooling  surface,  carbon, 
hydrogen,  oxygen,  which  were  necessary  for 
what  was  to  be,  science  has  with  vast  in¬ 
genuity  pieced  together  a  history  of  the 
world’s  development. 

First  are  seen  at  work  chemical  and 
physical  reactions,  the  effect  upon  matter 
of  such  forms  of  energy  as  heat  and  light, 
or  in  their  absence,  cold  and  darkness. 
Gradually  there  are  traced  the  deposits  of 
mineral  substances,  and  the  formations  of 
crystals,  new  products  being  formed  from 
previous  raw  materials. 

Then  there  is  observed  to  emerge  a  new 
thing,  life.  The  simplest  living  thing  has  a 
quite  different  order  of  being  from  the  life¬ 
less  materials  out  of  which  it  emerged ;  it 
has  some  measure  of  independence,  some 
power  of  adaptation  to  its  environment ; 
some  power  of  purposeful  movement,  of 
experiment,  of  behaviour,  of  growth,  of  de¬ 
velopment,  of  reproduction ;  there  are  in 


EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE  15 


it  the  elements  of  freedom,  self-determination, 
creative  activity. 

Further  in  the  history  of  the  world  a  new 
thing  emerges,  so  gradually  that  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  draw  a  Hne  and  say,  “  before 
this  it  was  not,  after  this  it  is  ”  ;  but  cer¬ 
tainly  if  language  means  anything  it  is  a  new 
thing  which  once  did  not  exist  on  the  earth 
as  such.  Consciousness,  There  was  no  con¬ 
sciousness  in  the  primeval  interactions  of 
gases,  or  in  the  rocks  as  they  were  laid  down 
in  their  beds.  But  it  may  well  be  that  just 
as  out  of  the  raw  materials  of  physical, 
chemical,  and  electric  energy  an  entirely 
new  thing  “  life  ”  emerged,  so  out  of  living 
operations  there  gradually  developed  in  an 
ascending  scale,  a  series  of  living  charac¬ 
teristics  which  at  last  appear  undeniably 
as  mental ;  and  a  living  creature  is  seen 
possessed  of  consciousness,  which  embraces 
the  capacity  to  choose  and  determine  and 
attempt,  will ;  the  capacity  to  like  and 
dislike,  affection ;  and  the  capacity  to  under¬ 
stand  and  think,  intellect. 

The  study  of  consciousness  is  the  task  of 
the  psychologist.  He,  as  other  scientists, 
explains  nothing  ultimately ;  he  describes. 
He  tells,  e,g,,  how  out  of  the  raw  antecedents 


16 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


of  unconscious  instincts  there  have  been 
developed  the  human  attributes  of  emotion, 
the  affections,  the  sentiments ;  and  how 
there  has  come  to  be  in  man  something  which 
characterises  him  as  different  from  all  other 
animals,  and  earns  him  the  title  “  homo 
sapiens,”  viz.  wisdom,  the  power  to  dis¬ 
criminate  consciously,  and  make  judgments 
as  to  the  value  of  things,  to  conceive  such 
ideas  as  the  Good,  the  True,  the  Beautiful, 
and  to  order  his  life  with  regard  to  an  ideal. 

Again  a  new  phenomenon  emerges  out  of 
consciousness ;  man  pondering  upon  him¬ 
self  and  the  universe  in  which  he  finds 
himself,  has  so  used  his  human  characteristic 
of  wisdom  that  he  has  become  aware  not 
only  of  himself  and  external  nature,  but  of 
God.  God-consciousness  is  a  practically 
universal  phenomenon  of  the  human  mind ; 
even  the  most  savage  and  backward  tribes 
have  this  common  mental  feature,  some 
idea,  however  rudimentary,  of  a  higher 
power ;  “  The  fear  of  God  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom.” 

Here  science  draws  its  line.  The  psychol¬ 
ogist  describes  how  man  thinks,  but  does 
not  profess  to  explain  how  God  has  come 
to  be  the  universal  object  of  man’s  regard. 


EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE  17 


The  study  of  comparative  religion  shows  us 
indeed  that  just  as  man  has  risen  higher 
in  the  scale  of  development,  just  in  pro¬ 
portion  as  he  has  transcended  his  brute- 
nature  and  developed  his  distinctly  human 
attributes,  his  conception  of  God  has  become 
more  enlarged,  more  noble,  more  exalted. 
And  as  we  trace  the  development  of  man’s 
religious  ideas,  we  see  them  gradually  reaching 
forward  in  the  minds  of  poets,  philosophers 
and  prophets,  toward  their  culmination  in 
the  fulness  of  God’s  self-revelation  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  Whom  human 
and  divine  consciousness  meet  in  perfect 
unison. 

God-consciousness  is,  then,  a  characteristic 
of  the  normal  human  mind.  And  we  need 
not  be  afraid  or  ashamed  if  those  who  analyse 
history  tell  us  that  religious  ideas  have 
developed  out  of  such  mean  beginnings  as 
cowering  fear  before  the  forces  of  nature, 
and  the  instinct  of  self-preservation.  Indeed 
we  might  have  guessed  as  much  from  certain 
degenerate  types  of  rehgion  which  we  may 
still  observe  in  civilised  man,  and  which 
take  the  form  known  as  “  fire-insurance.” 
That  all  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the  human 
mind  have  drawn  their  nourishment  from 
c 


18 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


roots  embedded  in  the  common  soil  is  nothing 
to  be  ashamed  of.  It  is  so  many  millions 
of  years  since  our  ancestor,  the  amoeba,  first 
rolled  about  in  the  ooze  of  the  pond,  that 
we  need  not  be  afraid  of  being  branded  as 
nouveaux.  Indeed  Mother  Earth  is  a  most 
beautiful  and  loveable  ancestress  of  whom 
we  might  wish  ourselves  more  worthy.  She 
is  a  wise  if  stern  mother,  and  if  her  human 
child  had  been  attentive  to  learn  all  the 
lessons  which  she  teaches,  much  discord  and 
disease  and  disaster  would  have  been  saved. 
For  it  is  a  significant  truth,  of  which  Prof. 
Arthur  Thompson  reminds  us,  that  in  wild 
nature  there  is  no  organic  disease. 

If  we  look  back  over  the  earth’s  history 
without  fear  we  may  learn  much  that  is  of 
real  value,  e.g.  we  may  trace  a  continual 
tendency  to  reach  out  to  something  new 
and  unknown,  something  always  further  on, 
the  tendency  to  adventurous  exploration. 
And  the  explorers  have  been  those  who 
were  not  best  suited  to  their  present  and 
therefore  seek  a  new  environment.  A  fish 
forsakes  the  water  for  the  mud,  and  develops 
lungs.  The  reptile  dissatisfied  with  earth 
grows  wings  and  becomes  a  bird.  The  rest 
of  the  fishes,  content  with  water-life,  remain 


EVOLUTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE  19 


stationary.  So  some,  by  a  rudimentary  power 
of  choice,  advance  ;  others  remain  stagnant ; 
others  again,  like  the  mammal  who  became 
a  whale,  look  back  and  degenerate.  And 
in  the  hfe  of  man,  it  is  just  this  upward- 
striving  tendency  which  has  led  us  out  of 
brutal  savagery  and  slavish  fear,  into  such 
civilisation  as  we  have  reached,  and  the 
sense  of  our  relationship  with  God.  Because 
he  is  man,  and  not  a  brute,  man  cries, 
“  0  God,  show  me  Thyself.”  He  recog¬ 
nises,  behind  all  the  outward  forms,  a  creative 
mind,  a  Father’s  heart,  not  interrupting 
nature’s  course  at  intervals,  but  continually 
labouring,  in  one  unbroken  creative  operation 
from  the  first  brooding  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  on  and  on  through 
the  ages  until  in  man  God  had  made  ready 
a  being  capable  of  receiving  Himself.  And 
at  last,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  through  the 
courageous  obedience  of  the  blessed  Virgin, 
God  took  nature  into  consummated  union 
with  Himself,  and  God  and  Man  became 
one  in  Jesus  Christ. 


Note. — For  the  use  of  the  word  “  emerge  ”  in 
the  description  of  the  evolutionary  process,  I  am 
indebted  to  Professor  Lloyd  Morgan’s  illuminating 


20 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


presidential  address  given  to  the  newly-created 
psychological  section  of  the  British  Association  in 
Edinburgh  in  1921.  He  shows  how  the  new  types 
that  appear  in  ascending  progression  upon  the 
evolutionary  scale,  are  not  merely  the  products 
of  their  united  raw  materials,  but  reveal  new 
properties  that  could  not  have  been  predicted  from 
the  examination  of  those  raw  materials.  Such 
“  emergent  ”  characteristics  are  life,  consciousness, 
judgment.  There  is  no  need  to  postulate  at  each 
stage  a  new  special  creative  act  of  God.  Those 
new  types  are  stages  in  one  constant  and  unremitting 
creative  labour  of  God,  the  Source  of  all  being. 


CHAPTER  II 

man’s  relation  to  god 

In  the  last  chapter,  after  defining  health 
as  a  state  of  harmonious  working  within 
the  organism  and  efficient  reaction  to  its 
environment,  and  religion  as  man’s  con¬ 
scious  relation  to  God,  we  took  a  rapid 
bird’s-eye  view  of  the  course  of  evolutionary 
creation  as  modern  science  has  described  it 
for  us,  the  gradual  emergence  in  an  ascending 
scale  of  higher  and  more  elaborate  forms 
out  of  their  pre-existent  raw  materials.  At 
different  stages  one  could  note  the  emergence 
of  a  new  thing,  a  higher  order,  not  completely 
to  be  accounted  for  by  the  raw  materials 
out  of  which  it  drew  its  existence,  though 
the  emergence  has  been  so  gradual  that  one 
cannot  draw  hard-and-fast  lines.  We  trace 
living  forms  emerging  from  previous  inorganic 
materials,  consciousness  emerging  out  of 
unconscious  life,  the  power  of  judgment 
and  the  awareness  of  God  emerging  out  of 

consciousness.  The  capacity  for  reverence, 

21 


22 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


devotion,  worship,  love,  and  conscious  self- 
sacrifice,  we  describe  as  essentially  human 
characteristics,  though  we  may  not  say 
that  there  is  nothing  akin  to  these  in  the 
animals,  especially  those  animals  which  have 
become  closely  associated  with  man,  such 
as  the  horse  and  the  dog. 

There  are  those  who,  in  their  analysis  of 
the  human  mind,  are  content  to  describe 
the  higher  in  terms  of  the  lower,  the  human 
in  terms  of  the  animal ;  just  as  there  are 
others  who  tend  to  explain  consciousness 
in  terms  of  the  physiological  activities  of 
the  body,  and  others  again  who  would  resolve 
every  living  bodily  activity  into  an  affair 
of  chemistry  and  physics ;  but  I  cannot 
imagine  anyone  who  by  any  elaboration  of 
chemical  and  physical  interchanges  could 
profess  to  account  for  the  Gospel  of  St 
John,  or  the  mind  of  the  man  who  wrote 
it.  Such  looking  back  incurs  the  danger 
of  reducing  man,  like  Lot’s  wife,  to  a  pillar 
of  salt.  The  normal  human  being  always 
has  demanded,  and  always  does  demand 
God,  and  as  man  advances  out  of  rude 
savagery  the  cry  becomes  more  and  more 
articulate :  “  0  God,  show  me  Thyself.” 

‘‘  My  soul  is  athirst  for  God,  yea,  even  for 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD  2S 


the  living  God ;  when  shall  I  come  to  appear 
before  the  presence  of  God  ?  ”  Or,  as  St 
Augustine  puts  it  in  the  oft-quoted  words 
with  which  he  begins  his  Confessions  :  “  Thee 
would  man  praise ;  man,  but  a  particle  of 
Thy  creation ;  man  who  bears  about  him 
his  mortality,  the  witness  of  his  sin,  the 
witness  that  Thou  resistest  the  proud ;  yet 
would  man  praise  Thee ;  he  but  a  particle 
of  Thy  creation,  for  Thou  madest  us  for 
Thyself,  and  our  heart  is  restless  until  it 
repose  in  Thee.”  Man’s  health  has  become 
a  larger  thing,  for  his  inner  harmony  involves 
a  relationship  with  God.  God  is  the  supreme 
factor  in  man’s  environment,  for  in  man 
spiritual  consciousness  has  emerged,  and  has 
lifted  him  into  a  new  kingdom,  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which  is  within  him  as  well  as 
around ;  and  health  is  more  than  animal 
fitness :  it  has  grown  to  mean  salvation, 
that  state  of  wholeness  which  comes  from 
conscious  harmony  with  God. 

Science,  which  has  so  widely  enlarged 
our  knowledge  of  the  created  universe,  has 
helped  us  correspondingly  to  enlarge  our 
conception  of  God.  We  no  longer  think 
of  God  as  an  almighty  Sultan,  issuing  effort¬ 
less  ‘‘  fiats  ”  for  the  creation  of  order  after 


24 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


order  of  created  beings ;  rather  we  think 
of  our  Lord’s  word,  “  My  Father  worketh 
hitherto.”  We  think  of  God  labouring  in 
His  universal  task,  the  life-giving  Spirit 
constantly  in  operation,  from  the  primeval 
brooding  on  the  abyss,  elaborating  a  universe 
worthy  of  the  exercise  of  His  Divine  creative 
art  and  wisdom ;  and  in  emergent  evolution 
we  begin  to  see  a  purpose  at  work,  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  an  order  of  beings  fit  to  be  called 
His  children,  who  are  growing  into  fuller 
consciousness  of  fellowship  with  Himself, 
who  answer  His  love  with  love.  His  wise 
commands  with  willing  obedience,  His  trust 
in  them  with  confidence  in  Him,  His  patient 
forbearance  towards  them  with  patient  for¬ 
bearance  towards  one  another.  His  joy  in 
their  growing  perfection  with  the  dawning 
vision  of  His  infinite  beauty  and  hohness. 
If  in  the  beginning  the  uninhabited  stars 
sang  together,  in  man  their  song  finds  words, 
the  unawake  creation  wakes  in  man  to  vocal 
praise,  and  man’s  restlessness  is  the  very 
condition  of  his  exploring  quest,  which  will 
never  cease  till  he  reaches  the  haven  where 
he  would  be,  the  restful  haven  of  his  Father’s 
Home. 

If  our  study  of  nature  has  helped  us  to 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD 


25 


a  larger  view  of  God,  the  history  of  man’s 
religious  development  is  also  full  of  signif¬ 
icance.  The  savage,  actuated  by  bhnd  fear 
in  face  of  the  power  of  nature,  searches  to 
find  ways  of  propitiation,  by  prayer  and 
sacrifice,  and  avoidance  of  dangerous  things  ; 
but  gradually  out  of  crude  and  dark  be¬ 
ginnings  we  can  trace,  as  in  Israel,  the 
growth  of  a  purer,  loftier,  more  moral  con¬ 
ception  of  God.  From  worshipping  the 
multitudinous  objects  of  the  created  universe, 
he  comes  to  worship  the  Creator,  Who  is 
exalted  far  above  them.  God  is  recognised 
as  the  God  of  righteousness.  Who  requires 
just  deahng  in  His  people.  He  is  recognised 
as  One  supreme  God,  and  the  host  of  tribal 
deities  sink  before  that  recognition  into 
nothingness,  and  justice  becomes  enlarged 
to  include  fair  dealing  with  the  stranger 
as  well  as  with  one’s  own  people.  The 
animal  sacrifices  continue,  but  they  are  no 
substitute  for  obedience ;  “To  obey  is 
better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than 
the  fat  of  rams.”  And  the  sacrifice  ceases 
to  be  a  way  of  appeasing  an  angry  God,  but 
is  the  grateful  offering  of  a  forgiven  servant. 
“  The  sacrifice  of  God  is  a  troubled  spirit ; 
a  broken  and  contrite  heart,  0  God,  shalt 

D 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


thou  not  despise.”  “  Then  shalt  Thou  be 
pleased  with  the  sacrifice  of  righteousness, 
with  the  burnt- offerings  and  oblations  ;  then 
shall  they  offer  young  bullocks  upon  Thine 
altar.” 

There  grows  the  sense  of  God’s  Majesty 
and  Holiness,  and  then  of  His  Fatherhood ; 
the  feeling  of  man’s  duty  and  moral  re¬ 
sponsibility,  and  then  of  his  sonship.  But  to 
the  Jew  the  majestic  transcendence  of  God 
was  more  apparent  than  His  homely  in¬ 
dwelling.  “  The  Lord  looked  down  from 
heaven  to  behold  the  children  of  men.”  He 
intervenes  by  mighty  judgments,  great  days 
of  the  Lord,  which  vindicate  His  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  His  care  for  the  oppressed.  But 
the  Lord’s  seat  is  in  heaven,  exalted  far  above 
the  earth.  There  is  a  gulf  between,  which 
however  is  partially  bridged  by  the  inspired 
utterance  of  the  prophet  who  declares  God’s 
will  and  interprets  His  meaning,  by  the 
ministrations  of  the  priest  who  enters  into 
the  Holy  Place  with  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice 
on  behalf  of  the  people,  and  by  the  prayers 
of  the  righteous.  But  God  is  holy,  and 
therefore  apart  from  common  things.  For 
the  common  bears  the  taint  of  the  unclean. 
Still,  though  there  was  a  gulf  fixed  between 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD  27 


God’s  holiness  and  man’s  sinful  nature,  there 
springs  and  grows  in  the  Jewish  consciousness 
the  Messianic  hope,  the  expectation  of  the 
coming  of  the  Deliverer,  the  Anointed  King 
in  the  succession  of  the  royal  lineage  of  David, 
who  would  restore  the  kingdom  in  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  bring  in  a  reign  of  peace  and  for¬ 
giveness  of  sins.  This  expectation  of  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah  to  restore  the  King- 
ship  to  Judah,  and  vindicate  God’s  purpose 
for  the  chosen  people,  becomes  more  vivid 
as  the  days  approach,  both  among  the 
Pharisees  and  among  the  people.  It  is  on 
the  lips  of  Simeon  and  of  Zachariah,  the  father 
of  John  Baptist.  Men  rise  on  the  tip-toe 
of  expectation  when  a  new  teacher  appears, 
and  ask,  “  Art  thou  he  that  should  come,  or 
are  we  to  look  for  another  ?  ”  The  experience 
of  the  Jewish  race  forces  into  their  conscious¬ 
ness  the  sure  and  certain  hope  of  the  coming 
of  the  Christ. 

Outside  the  Jewish  race  one  can  trace 
the  development  of  rehgious  belief  in  other 
nations,  among  the  Greeks,  for  example, 
where  there  was  in  early  days  the  worship 
of  the  powers  of  nature,  then  the  conception 
of  the  gods  lifted  up  and  apart  from  mundane 
affairs,  the  Olympian  deities,  occasionally 


28 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


intervening  among  men,  protecting  or  pur¬ 
suing  with  vengeance,  but  apart  and  above. 
There  arises  the  sense  of  responsibihty,  of 
destiny,  of  the  grim  working  of  the  curse  of 
nemesis  upon  offenders  and  their  famihes, 
the  sense  of  doom  which  sounds  the  note  of 
melancholy  in  the  tragedies  of  Sophocles, 
while  in  Plato  we  see  the  conception  of  two 
worlds  ;  the  upper,  the  real  world  of  absolute 
ideas,  the  eternal  world  of  the  Good,  the 
True,  and  the  Beautiful ;  and  the  lower 
transient  world  of  restless  change  and  evanes¬ 
cent  phenomena.  Between  these  two  there 
seems  to  be  no  bridge,  but  there  spring  up 
a  host  of  mystery-cults,  whose  purpose  is  to 
penetrate  through  the  darkness,  to  pass 
through  veil  after  veil  by  successive  processes 
of  purification  and  initiation,  till  at  last  with¬ 
in  the  final  veil  the  human  and  the  divine 
shall  meet. 

With  such  foreshadowings  the  Eastern,  the 
Greek,  and  the  Latin  world  were  full  (for  one 
cannot  miss  out  what  has  been  called  the 
Messianic  poem  of  Vergil,  the  4th  Eclogue) 
and  the  human  consciousness  of  God’s  opera¬ 
tions  was  being  prepared  for  a  crowning 
revelation.  When  the  fulness  of  time  was 
come,  Jesus  was  born  in  Betlilehem,  lived, 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD  29 


taught,  suffered,  and  died  upon  the  Cross, 
and  from  the  Incarnation  the  world  has 
dated  its  years  anew.  Before  was  b.c. — 
ever  since,  there  have  been  the  years  of  the 
Lord.  That  period  of  thirty-three  years  with 
its  three  years  of  ministry  and  teaching,  have 
been  in  fact  the  turning-point  of  human 
history.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
won  its  way  through  every  possible  opposition 
to  its  status  as  the  professed  religion  of  the 
civilised  world,  while  it  has  also  modified 
the  religions  of  the  East.  We  believe  that 
in  Jesus  Christ  the  desire  of  all  nations  has 
come. 

We  may  regard  our  Lord  as  the  supreme 
product  of  emergent  evolution,  in  whom  as 
its  perfect  representative  the  created  universe 
becomes  perfectly  God-conscious  by  pre¬ 
eminence,  “  the  first-born  of  all  creation  ” 
in  whose  human  nature  the  Father  has  at 
last  begotten  a  son  who  answers  completely 
to  His  will ;  or,  looking  from  the  other  side 
we  may  say  that  in  Jesus  Christ,  through 
the  human  nature  which  has  at  last  been 
perfectly  adapted  for  His  purpose,  God  has 
revealed  supremely  His  own  Nature  and 
Being,  that  God,  ever  immanent  in  His 
creation  and  ever  transcending  it,  has  made 


30 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


the  nature  of  Jesus  the  point  at  which  God 
and  His  creation  coincide.  In  Christ  the 
manhood  has  been  taken  into  God,  for  the 
sake  of  all  mankind,  and  may  we  not  add, 
for  the  sake  of  the  whole  world  out  of  which 
man  has  emerged  ?  May  we  not  see  in  the 
Incarnation  a  birth  which  will,  as  its  glory 
becomes  fully  revealed,  justify  to  the  full  the 
age-long  travail-pangs  of  nature,  and  prove 
an  achievement  worthy  of  the  creative  energy 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  ? 

But,  without  letting  our  thoughts  range  too 
widely,  let  us  turn  our  attention  to  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  our  Lord’s  disciples.  What  is  in 
the  consciousness  of  the  apostles,  as  shown 
in  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  ?  The  central 
fact  of  their  knowledge  is  that  they  are  a 
company  of  people  possessed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  When  Ananias  and  Sapphira  bring 
their  money  to  the  apostles,  pretending  that 
the  part  is  the  whole,  their  pretence  is  shown 
to  be  a  he,  not  unto  man,  but  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  shock  of  their  exposed  guilt 
kills  them.  When  the  apostles  deliberate  as 
to  the  terms  on  which  non- Jewish  converts 
are  to  be  admitted  into  the  Church,  their 
finding  is  couched  in  these  words :  ‘‘It 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us.” 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD 


31 


They  know  that  they  have  been  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  since  Pentecost.  They  pro¬ 
mise,  as  St  Peter  voiced  it  to  the  multitude 
on  that  very  day,  that  all  who  repent  and 
beheve  shall  be  admitted  into  the  company 
of  the  Church  by  baptism  for  the  remission 
of  their  sins,  and  shall  be  filled  also  with  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  “for  the  promise  is  for  you 
and  for  your  children,  and  for  those  who  are 
afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God 
shall  call.”  When  Philip  the  Evangelist 
preaches  to  the  Samaritans,  he  baptizes  them 
after  their  conversion,  and  thereupon  two 
apostles,  St  John  and  St  Peter,  come  down 
from  Jerusalem  to  impart  to  the  baptized 
converts  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  laying-on 
of  Hands.  It  becomes  the  experience  of  the 
Church  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  given  through 
the  laying-on  of  the  apostles’  hands.  The 
active  agent  in  all  the  activities  of  the  Church 
is  the  Holy  Spirit ;  so  much  so,  that  there 
is  in  their  mind  no  such  thing  as  an  isolated 
Christian ;  by  baptism  they  have  been  in¬ 
corporated  into  a  new  Body.  They  are 
members,  not  only  individuals,  living  a  new 
life  which  is  not  their  own,  but  the  common 
inheritance  of  all  the  members  together,  the 
life  of  Christ  in  them  all,  ministered  by  the 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy  Ghost  has  become 
common  to  all.  The  barrier  between  the 
aU-holy  God  and  His  human  servants  has 
been  dissolved.  God  has  shown  Himself  as 
the  Servant,  and  the  disciples  He  names 
not  servants  but  friends,  inasmuch  as  He 
has  admitted  them  to  a  knowledge  of  His 
counsels.  A  new  race  has  emerged,  not 
traceable  any  longer  by  natural  descent, 
but  called,  and  to  be  called,  out  of  every 
nation  and  colour  and  status,  into  a  new 
genus,  the  people  of  God’s  possession,  a  people 
aware  of  God’s  in-dwelling,  and  surrendering 
their  whole  life  to  His  control,  no  longer 
conformed  to  this  world,  but,  in  conscious 
reaction  to  their  environment,  being  trans¬ 
formed  by  the  renewing  of  their  mind  into 
an  inner  knowledge  of  the  love  and  purpose 
of  God.  They  have  been  quickened  into 
newness  of  life.  They  are  in  Christ  a  new 
creation. 

As  the  disciples  were  vividly  conscious 
of  the  fact  that  they  were,  with  all  their 
diversities  of  gifts  and  characteristics,  essen¬ 
tially  one  through  the  unifying  presence 
in  them  all  of  the  one  Holy  Spirit,  they 
were  also  perfectly  well  aware  of  the  sequence 
of  events  by  which  this  had  come  to  pass. 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD 


33 

It  followed  from  the  incarnate  life  of  Jesus, 
His  promises,  His  at-one-ing  death.  His  re¬ 
surrection  from  the  dead,  and  His  ascension. 
As  St  Peter  put  it  to  the  multitude  on  the 
Day  of  Pentecost :  “  This  Jesus  hath  God 
raised  up,  whereof  we  all  are  witnesses. 
Therefore  being  by  the  right  hand  of  God 
exalted,  and  having  received  of  the  Father 
the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  hath 
shed  forth  this  which  ye  now  see  and  hear. 
For  David  ascended  not  into  the  heavens, 
but  he  saith  himself,  ‘  The  Lord  said  unto 
my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand  until 
I  make  thine  enemies  the  footstool  of  thy 
feet.’  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore 
know  assuredly  that  God  hath  made  that 
same  Jesus,  Whom  ye  have  crucified,  both 
Lord  and  Christ.”  The  same  consciousness 
of  the  Holy  Spirit’s  indwelhng,  due  to  the 
atonement  wrought  by  Jesus  Christ,  shines 
through  every  letter  of  St  Paul.  The  1st 
Epistle  of  St  Peter  is  full  of  this  same 
thought  (1  Pet.  i.  1-12),  St  John  is  full  of 
it,  see  the  opening  of  his  1st  Epistle.  It 
is  the  burden  of  the  apostolic  message  to 
the  world  :  ‘‘  The  life  was  manifested,  and 
we  have  seen  it,  and  show  unto  vou  that 
eternal  life  which  was  with  the  Father  and 

E 


34 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


was  manifested  to  us ;  that  which  we  have 
seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you  that 
ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us  ;  and 
truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father  and 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ ;  and  these  things 
we  write  unto  you  that  your  joy  may  be 
full.” 

The  disciples  had  understood  very  little 
of  our  Lord  while  He  was  with  them  in  the 
flesh.  The  crucifixion  had  shattered  all  their 
hopes,  and  left  them  without  any  message 
for  the  world,  but  with  only  the  experience 
of  a  dear  teacher  done  to  death,  the  rankling 
sense  of  their  desertion  of  Him  in  His  hour 
of  need,  and  the  fear  of  their  own  capture 
and  death  which  kept  them  cowering  behind 
locked  doors.  The  overwhelming  fact  of  the 
Risen  Christ  talking  with  them  time  after 
time,  sensible,  contrary  to  all  expectations 
to  their  eyes  and  touch,  had  revolu¬ 
tionised  their  whole  attitude,  and  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  Pentecost  had  completed  their 
equipment.  Thenceforth  fear  of  man  has  no 
place  in  them.  Neither  the  vindictive  pur¬ 
suing  hate  of  the  Jews,  nor  the  sneers  of 
the  cultured  Greek,  nor  the  dread  machinery 
of  the  Roman  law,  could  deflect  them  from 
their  unflinching  testimony.  They  share  the 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD 


Communion  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  no 
power  on  earth  or  hell  is  strong  enough  to 
separate  them  from  the  love  of  God,  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  their  Lord. 

Two  clear  purposes  stand  out  in  the 
Apostolic  Church,  corresponding  to  two  final 
commands  of  Jesus  : 

1.  To  abide  in  Christ,  and  let  Him  abide 
in  them,  by  the  communion  of  His  life, 
vouchsafed  in  the  Sacraments. 

2.  To  carry  Christ’s  life  to  all  the  world, 
that  all  nations  might  learn  of  the  atonement, 
the  reconciliation  of  man  to  God,  and  might 
be  incorporated  into  the  company  of  His 
Church,  and  enjoy  the  fellowship  of  Christ’s 
Spirit,  and  the  participation  of  His  Life. 

Their  aim  is  to  labour,  by  the  work  of 
the  ministry  in  union  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
at  the  building  up  of  Christ’s  Body  the 
Church  out  of  all  mankind,  until  it  reach 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ,  and  be  made,  in  the  finished 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  perfect  unity, 
the  objective  counterpart  of  God’s  mind,  the 
Bride  made  ready  and  fit  for  eternal  union 
with  the  Word,  the  Son  of  God. 

As  we  study  the  ministry  and  teaching 
of  our  Lord,  and  His  commission  to  His 


36 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


apostles,  it  becomes  clear  that  He  expects 
two  things  of  His  mystical  Body,  the  Church, 
corresponding  to  two  characteristics  of  His 
natural  Body.  The  first  is  wholeness  of 
being,  the  state  of  health.  As  He  never 
knew  in  His  own  Body  disease  or  sin,  for 
He  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  type,  the  Lamb 
without  blemish,  so  He  provided,  by  His 
Spirit’s  endowment,  the  means  of  healing 
for  man’s  whole  nature.  He  had  gone  about 
healing  the  sick  by  spiritual  power,  never 
refusing  healing  to  any  who  sought  it  of  Him, 
and  He  commands  His  Church  to  continue 
this  work  by  such  methods  as  the  laying-on 
of  hands,  and  the  anointing  with  oil.  He  had 
healed  the  minds  of  men  by  His  illuminat¬ 
ing  teaching,  and  by  the  release  of  those 
darkened  by  the  possession  of  evil  spirits  ; 
and  He  commands  His  Church  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  and  to  cast  out  devils.  He 
had  ministered  God’s  forgiveness  of  sins, 
proclaiming  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath 
power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins ;  and,  in 
the  act  of  inbreathing  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
His  apostles.  He  gives  them  the  commis¬ 
sion  :  “  Whosesoever  sins  ye  forgive  they  are 
forgiven  unto  them,  and  whosesoever  sins 
ye  retain  they  are  retained.”  He  endows 


MAN’S  RELATION  TO  GOD 


37 


His  Church  with  the  Spirit  of  Life,  with 
the  command  to  carry  the  Life  unto  all  the 
world  for  the  healing  of  mankind  in  body, 
mind,  and  spirit.  For  He  requires  of  all 
the  members  of  His  Church  what  they  can 
only  have  by  the  presence  and  power  of 
His  Spirit  possessing  them,  namely,  health 
and  holiness.  Thus  the  cleavage  is  no  longer 
between  God  the  Holy  and  man  the  earthly 
creature ;  but  between  God  indwelling  in 
His  Church  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  hand  the  rest  of  mankind,  who  still 
await  incorporation  into  Christ ;  between 
man  regenerate  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit, 
and  the  old  unregenerate  nature  which  in 
its  downward  pulling  tendency  runs  counter 
to  the  redeemed  nature,  and  must  be  mortified, 
that  the  members  of  Christ  may  be  free. 

The  second  requirement  is  that  His  Church, 
like  His  natural  Body,  shall  bear  the  Cross. 
As  Jesus  had  revealed  the  Father’s  love 
and  labour  by  a  life  of  utter  self-giving,  even 
to  the  Agony  and  the  Crucifixion,  so  He 
requires  of  His  members,  because  He  has 
made  them  strong  and  whole,  to  bear  the 
world’s  burden  in  their  turn,  to  carry  the 
Cross,  the  suffering  which  the  still  unrecon¬ 
ciled  enemies  heap  upon  the  Church,  to 


38 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


continue  in  patient  labour,  unified  with  the 
labour  of  Christ,  until  by  the  magnet  of 
Christ’s  love  in  them,  all  men  shall  be  drawn 
to  Him,  and  through  Him,  to  the  Father. 

The  Church,  looking  towards  God,  is  the 
Church  forgiven,  healed,  made  new ;  and 
looking  toward  man,  it  is  to  carry  forgive¬ 
ness,  healing,  and  regeneration.  The  joy  set 
before  the  Church  is  the  joy  which  sustained 
Christ  in  His  agony,  and  made  it  all  well 
worth  His  while,  the  certainty  that  by  faith¬ 
ful  endurance  the  end  would  be  gained,  and 
all  mankind  brought  into  the  inheritance  of 
God’s  kingdom. 

Christ  requires  us  to  be  strong,  which 
we  cannot  be  in  ourselves,  therefore  He 
puts  within  our  reach  the  means  of  health, 
which  we  will  consider  later. 


CHAPTER  III 


HEALTH,  ITS  MAINTENANCE  AND  REPAIR 

We  have  described  health  as  the  harmonious 
working  within  the  organism,  and  the  suc¬ 
cessful  adaptation  of  the  organism  to  its 
environment.  As  the  ladder  of  evolution 
is  ascended  health  becomes  a  larger  and 
more  complicated  thing,  as  the  structure  of 
the  organism  becomes  more  elaborate  and 
its  functions  more  differentiated,  and  as 
its  horizon  becomes  more  extended.  The 
life-processes  of  the  simplest  animals  may 
be  described  in  terms  of  chemistry  and 
physics.  But  further  up  the  scale  the 
psychic  factor  enters  in  more  and  more. 
For  example,  the  digestion  and  assimilation 
of  food,  by  which  the  body  is  maintained, 
becomes  more  and  more  complicated  as  de¬ 
velopment  proceeds.  It  used  to  be  thought 
that  the  digestive  activities  of  a  dog  could 
be  sufficiently  explained  by  the  mechanical 
stimulation  of  the  food  producing  an  outflow 
of  digestive  juices  which  acted  chemically 

39 


40 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


on  the  food,  the  mechanical  movements  of 
the  muscular  walls  of  stomach  and  intestine, 
and  the  reflex  nervous  stimulation  set  up 
by  the  sight,  smell,  taste,  and  touch  of 
the  food.  But  experiments  have  proved 
that  there  is,  even  in  the  lower  animals, 
another  factor,  the  emotional.  The  sight 
of  food  will  make  the  gastric  glands  of  a 
hungry  dog  secrete  actively.  But  if  when 
that  dog  is  about  to  eat,  a  cat  which 
the  dog  dishkes  is  put  beside  it,  the 
dog’s  annoyance  and  rage  at  the  cat  will 
cause  a  stoppage  of  the  proper  gastric  flow, 
and  interfere  with  the  dog’s  digestion. 
The  dog’s  digestive  acts  are  no  longer 
those  simply  of  physical  absorption  and 
chemical  reaction,  nor  are  they  physical, 
chemical,  and  nervously  reflex  only,  but  they 
are  governed  by  a  new  and  higher  factor, 
which  in  the  dog  we  may  call  mental.  And 
as  the  scale  ascends  the  mental  factor  be¬ 
comes  still  more  predominant.  The  hungry 
child  secretes  gastric  juice  at  the  sight  of 
food,  but  if  he  is  disappointed  and  has  to 
wait  long,  the  presence  at  last  of  the 
delayed  food  in  the  stomach  produces  no 
response  and  the  child  cannot  digest  it. 
And  the  interference  with  digestion  caused 


HEALTH 


41 


by  anxiety,  anger,  fear,  or  grief,  is  familiar 
to  us  all.  But  digestion  is  not  the  only 
function  affected  by  the  emotions.  Every 
activity  of  the  body  is  so  affected.  And 
prolonged  derangement  of  function,  due  to 
emotional  disturbance,  results  in  actual 
changes  in  the  tissues,  and  causes  what  is 
called  disease. 

Health,  therefore,  for  the  human  being 
involves  not  merely  a  normal  working 
of  the  various  muscles  and  nerves  and 
glands  and  organs  of  the  body  secured 
by  regular  food,  physical  exercise,  and 
proper  rest.  All  these  things  are  neces¬ 
sary,  but  they  are  not  enough.  For  a 
healthy  man  requires  a  healthy  mind,  and 
he  must  therefore  have  proper  mental 
food,  healthy  things  to  think  about,  due 
mental  exercise  ;  he  should  occupy  his  mind 
with  wholesome  thinking,  wholesome  desires, 
and  the  wholesome  use  of  his  will,  and 
proper  mental  rest,  absence  of  worry,  anxiety, 
fear,  depression,  and  all  undue  emotional 
disturbance. 

It  is  the  last  that  in  these  days  of  bustle 
and  stress  and  insecurity  people  find  it 
most  difficult  to  come  by.  Consequently, 
one  of  the  outstanding  features  of  modern 

F 


42 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


civilisation  is  the  great  prevalence  of  nervous 
weakness  and  emotional  instability.  Power 
of  resistance  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  life 
has  decreased,  while  the  wear  and  tear  have 
increased.  Every  new  labour-saving  inven¬ 
tion  opens  out  new  vistas  of  increased  labour. 
With  every  new  convenience  there  appears 
a  new  source  of  worry.  This  point  is  suffi¬ 
ciently  illustrated  by  the  one  word,  telephone. 
And  as  factories  accumulate  through  the  world 
to  supply  the  world’s  need,  want  becomes 
no  less,  insecurity  preys  on  men’s  minds, 
and  the  struggle  for  existence  becomes  fiercer. 
“  Men’s  hearts  are  failing  them  from  fear.” 
And  fear  in  a  myriad  forms  is  of  the  essence 
of  neurasthenia. 

It  is  this  condition  of  affairs  that  make 
men  question  the  value  of  civilisation.  Has 
civilisation  become  a  juggernaut  to  crush 
out  the  lives  of  the  civilised  ?  Or  is 
there  in  civilisation  such  a  mixture  of 
good  and  evil  conditions  that  by  judicious 
reforms  the  good  may  be  conserved  and 
the  evil  reduced  ?  This  is  the  hope  of 
the  reformer.  But  we  are  beginning  to 
understand  that  the  mere  amelioration  of 
conditions  is  no  sufficient  reform.  Reform 
must  include  persons  as  well  as  environ- 


HEALTH 


43 


ment.  A  new  outlook  on  life  is  neces¬ 
sary,  for  the  results  of  pride,  covetousness, 
ambition,  cruelty,  envy,  jealousy,  self-seeking 
cannot  pass  away  until  these  diseases  of 
character  are  put  away.  In  social  and 
in  private  life  what  is  required  is  the 
cultivation  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  kindness, 
goodness,  faithfulness,  meekness,  self-control. 
For  in  man  there  is  a  higher  factor  to 
govern  his  life-processes  than  the  laws  of 
chemistry,  physics,  physiology,  and  psycho¬ 
logy.  The  factors  that  would  make  him 
a  healthy  animal,  or  a  healthy  thinking 
animal,  are  not  sufficient  to  make  him  a 
healthy  man.  For  the  crowning  character¬ 
istic  of  man  is  God-consciousness.  Therefore 
for  healthy  manhood  there  is  involved  a 
proper  conscious  relationship  to  God  and 
his  fellow-beings.  Love  to  God  and  one’s 
neighbours  becomes  a  law  of  health.  The 
cure  of  neurasthenia  is  to  be  found  in  “  the 
peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  under¬ 
standing.”  And  the  way  into  that  peace 
has  been  opened  for  us  by  the  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  cure  for  civilisation  is 
to  be  found  in  Christianity,  and  the  health 
of  the  individual  is  realised  when  he  comes 


44 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


to  himself  in  the  realisationship  of  his 
membership  in  Christ. 

Fortunately,  the  health  of  the  individual 
has  not  to  wait  altogether  on  the  health 
of  the  body  corporate  of  humanity.  The 
Incarnation  proves  that  man  may  grow  to 
perfection  in  the  most  antagonistic  human 
environment.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  by 
the  multiplication  of  individuals  who  have 
found  the  secret  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  that 
society  is  to  be  saved.  The  leaven  will 
eventually  leaven  the  lump,  and  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  will  become  the  kingdom  of 
our  God  and  of  His  Christ. 

When  health  has  been  impaired,  when 
there  is  discord  within,  and  the  organism 
is  unable  to  adjust  itself  successfully  to  its 
environment,  a  healer  is  called  in.  The 
duty  of  the  healer  is  often  described  as 
“  assisting  nature.”  In  no  case  is  the  healer 
the  source  of  cure,  he  merely  puts  the  patient 
in  the  best  possible  condition  for  the  patient’s 
own  vitahty  to  assert  itself.  There  is  in 
every  one  a  gift  of  life,  which  life  is  from 
God  and  depends  upon  God.  And  one  of 
the  characteristics  of  life  is  the  tendency 
to  repair.  As  long  as  a  body  is  alive  the 
tendency  to  repair  is  always  present.  It 


HEALTH 


45 


only  ceases  when  life  departs  from  the  body. 
It  is  the  life  that  effects  the  healing,  the 
healer  merely  assists.  His  assistance  is  im¬ 
portant  because  without  his  aid  the  patient’s 
vitahty  may  not  be  sufficient  to  overcome 
the  resistance  which  the  illness  makes.  And 
the  aid  of  a  healer  is  generally  necessary  if 
recovery  is  not  to  be  delayed. 

Of  healers  there  are  many  kinds,  but  we 
may  divide  them  roughly  into  three  classes ; 
physical,  mental,  and  spiritual,  according  to 
the  means  of  help  which  they  bring  to 
bear  upon  the  case.  The  physical  healers 
are  the  physicians  and  surgeons,  and  all 
the  varieties  of  specialists  into  which  these 
two  may  be  divided.  Their  work  is  to 

consider  the  physical  constitution  and  the 
physical  means  available  for  supporting  it. 
The  surgeon  has  his  array  of  instruments 
•  and  dressings  for  operative  and  manipu¬ 
lative  treatment.  The  surgeon  does  not 
repair  a  broken  leg ;  he  sets  it  in  a 
favourable  position,  so  that  when  the 
broken  fragments  of  the  bone  unite  by 
the  repairing  activity  of  the  body,  the 
result  may  be  a  straight  instead  of 
a  deformed  limb.  There  are  some  who, 
in  their  enthusiastic  advocacy  of  spiritual 


46 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


and  mental  healing,  would  deny  any  place 
to  surgical  operation.  But,  although  it  may 
be  conceded  that  we  have  tended  perhaps 
to  resort  too  much  to  the  knife,  it  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  true  that  surgical  operations  have 
been  the  means  of  saving  thousands  of  lives. 
For  example,  if  a  patient  is  suffering  from 
acute  appendicitis,  the  repairing  activity  of 
the  body  comes  into  play,  and  an  abscess 
in  the  appendix  is  the  centre  of  a  war  which 
is  waged  between  the  body  and  the  poisonous 
organisms  which  have  attacked  it.  During 
the  war  there  is  a  considerable  danger  that 
the  abscess  in  the  appendix  may  burst  and 
the  infection  be  spread  all  over  the  peri¬ 
toneum,  a  highly  absorptive  surface,  causing 
general  blood-poisoning  and  death  before 
the  defensive  resources  of  the  body  can 
successfully  cope  with  the  situation.  There¬ 
fore  the  surgeon  removes  the  inflamed  ap¬ 
pendix  before  it  bursts,  and  thus  removes 
the  whole  invading  army,  leaving  the  body 
the  much  simpler  task  of  repairing  a  clean 
wound.  Obviously  in  such  a  case  the 
surgeon  is  a  most  valuable  assistant  to  nature, 
and  we  rightly  consider  his  work  God- 
inspired.  Similarly  the  physician  with  his 
medicines  assists,  ^.g.,  by  stimulating  the 


HEALTH 


47 


action  of  a  heart  whose  work  is  too 
hard  for  it  to  accomplish  without  help,  or 
by  supplying  some  chemical  element  which 
the  body  requires  and  lacks.  He  stands  by 
during  the  course  of  a  fever  and  helps  to 
keep  up  the  patient’s  strength  while  the  battle 
with  the  disease  rages  within.  And  as  physio¬ 
logical  discovery  advances,  he  is  ever  finding 
new  ways  of  assisting  the  patient.  But 
the  capable  physician  and  surgeon  are  well 
aware  that  the  patient  is  not  merely  an 
animated  body.  They  know  that  the 
personal  factor  is  of  supreme  importance, 
and  they  are  anxious  that  all  mental  irrita¬ 
tions  and  anxieties  should  be  removed.  They 
realise  the  importance  of  having  the  sick¬ 
room  filled,  not  merely  with  a  physical 
atmosphere  of  fresh  air  and  refreshing  frag¬ 
rance  of  flowers,  but  even  more  with  a 
mental  atmosphere  of  confidence  and  hope 
and  peace.  They  see  the  importance,  that 
is  to  say,  of  treatment  other  than  physical. 
They  exclude  the  fussy  and  distressing  visitor, 
and  gladly  admit  those  who  bring  peace  and 
hope  and  good  cheer.  If  they  know  that 
the  clergyman’s  visit  will  bring  quietness 
and  confidence  and  a  happier  outlook  to  the 
patient,  they  will  be  glad  of  his  co-operation, 


48 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


but  if  they  suspect  the  clergyman  of  frighten¬ 
ing  and  worrying  the  patient,  they  will 
resent  his  coming.  Often  when  the  symptoms 
suggest  that  a  disquieted  mind  plays  a  large 
part  in  the  illness,  they  will  realise  that 
mental  help  is  needed,  and  call  to  their  help 
the  power  of  suggestion. 

Suggestion,  or  the  giving  of  ideas,  is  now 
universally  recognised  as  an  instrument  of 
great  power.  As  unhealthy,  unsettling  ideas 
can  be  imparted  as  well  as  those  that  are 
healthy  and  peaceful,  suggestion  is  seen  to 
be  an  instrument  potent  either  for  good  or 
evil.  People  used  to  be  afraid  of  hypnotism, 
but  it  is  now  seen  that  it  is  not  hypnotism 
but  the  ideas  given  in  the  hypnotic  state 
that  must  be  carefully  watched.  Once  ideas 
have  taken  possession  of  the  mind  they 
dominate  the  situation,  and  may  overrule 
and  veto  the  ordinary  physiological  activities 
of  the  body.  The  pain  of  a  toothache  or 
lumbago  may  be  wiped  out  of  the  patient’s 
consciousness.  Insomnia  can  be  cured,  and 
depression  relieved.  But  the  doctor  knows 
well  that  the  removal  of  pain,  valuable 
though  it  be,  is  not  the  cure  of  the  disease. 
The  cause  of  the  pain  must  be  dealt  with. 
So  with  the  causes  of  insomnia  and  depres- 


HEALTH 


49 


sion.  Very  often  what  the  patient  most 
requires  is  a  new  outlook  on  life,  a  working 
philosophy  adequate  to  meet  the  situation, 
strong  enough  to  stand  the  strain  of  ex¬ 
perience.  And  here  the  need  of  spiritual 
help  appears.  For  suggestion  can  only 
minister  to  self-confidence  and  confidence  in 
the  doctor,  whereas  man’s  chief  need  is 
confidence  in  God. 

The  spiritual  healer’s  main  object  is  to 
help  the  patient  to  acquire  such  a  strong 
and  simple  confidence  in  God  as  will  enable 
him  to  rise  above  every  fear  and  depression 
and  anxiety.  He  has  to  bring  home  to  the 
sick  man’s  consciousness  the  most  important 
and  practical  facts  in  the  world,  the  certain 
love  of  God,  the  Almighty  Father,  the  re¬ 
storing  power  of  the  incarnate  life  of  Christ, 
and  the  potency  of  the  indwelling  grace  of 
His  Holy  Spirit.  For  this  end  he  studies 
the  hfe  of  Christ,  the  nature  of  His  mission 
and  work.  His  promises  and  the  conditions 
attached  to  them,  His  commission  to  His 
Church,  and  the  way  in  which  the  Church 
has  carried  out  the  Master’s  orders. 

The  study  of  our  Lord’s  works  of  healing, 
and  of  those  which  have  been  wrought  in 
the  Church  in  obedience  to  His  command, 

G 


50 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


shows  us  that  even  as  mental  suggestions 
dominate  the  body  and  alter  its  working, 
even  so  spiritual  activity  may  dominate 
mind  and  body  alike.  One  cannot  draw  a 
hard  and  fast  hne  between  the  mental  and 
the  spiritual,  any  more  than  we  can  draw 
a  clean  dividing  line  between  the  psychical 
and  the  physiological,  for  mind,  body,  and 
spirit  never  act  apart.  But  we  may  roughly 
differentiate  the  spiritual  activities  as  those 
in  which  God  is  deliberately  taken  into 
account.  Prayer  is,  of  course,  mental,  but 
it  is  something  more,  it  is  a  conscious 
association  with  God.  Auto-suggestion,  if  its 
subject  matter  has  to  do  with  God,  is  a 
spiritual  thing,  a  form  of  spiritual  meditation. 
If  it  deals  only  with  the  human  side  of 
things  we  do  not  call  it  spiritual  any  longer. 
And  the  difference  in  potency  between 
psychical  auto-suggestion  and  spiritual  auto¬ 
suggestion  or  prayer  is  the  difference  between 
the  potentialities  of  self-confidence  and  con¬ 
fidence  in  God.  Some  people,  of  course,  can 
trust  themselves  more  than  they  trust  God. 
But  the  man  who  has  learned  to  trust  God 
is  in  an  infinitely  stronger  position  than  he 
who  has  merely  learned  to  trust  himself.  If 
trust  in  God  can  be  evoked  to  the  extent  to 


HEALTH 


51 


which  our  Lord,  and  later  the  apostles  evoked 
it,  then  similar  results  may  be  expected  to 
follow  to-day  as  of  old.  And  the  building 
up  of  a  loving  faith  in  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  is  part  of  the  work  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  HEALING  MINISTRY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

At  the  outset  of  His  ministry  Jesus  pro¬ 
claimed  Himself  as  the  Deliverer.  He  de¬ 
clared  that  in  Him  was  fulfilled  the  prophecy 
of  Isaiah  : 

“  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 

Because  He  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings 
to  the  poor, 

He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the 
captives. 

And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind. 

To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 

To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.” 

Release,  restoration,  liberty,  life,  these  are 
the  burden  of  His  message,  these  are  the 
gifts  which  He  comes  to  confer  upon  a  cap¬ 
tive,  weakened,  and  maimed  humanity.  His 
ministry  is  entirely  consistent,  and  His 
mission  is  to  the  whole  nature  of  man.  The 
physical  side  of  humanity  is  weakened  and 
taken  captive  by  disease,  due  to  world-wide 
failure  to  observe  the  laws  of  health.  There 


52 


THE  HEALING  MINISTRY 


53 


is  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  our  Lord’s  attitude 
to  disease.  He  regards  it  as  an  evil  thing, 
a  discordant  condition  interrupting  the  har¬ 
mony  of  life,  diabolic  in  origin.  Search  the 
Gospels  from  end  to  end,  and  you  will  search 
in  vain  for  any  hint  from  Jesus  that  disease 
is  sent  from  God.  But  more  than  once  He 
says  expressly  that  it  is  Satanic.  Conse¬ 
quently  His  attitude  was  consistently  one  of 
attack.  The  sick  were  brought  to  Him 
singly  and  in  crowds,  and  the  Gospels  which 
give  us  the  account  of  His  practice,  show 
that  practice  to  have  been  invariably  the 
same,  the  ministry  of  deliverance.  Never 
was  there  a  suggestion  that  the  prolongation 
of  illness  would  work  out  for  the  sick  man’s 
good,  that  it  would  be  his  opportunity  for 
cultivating  faith  and  resignation  and  patience. 
Jesus  called  out  faith  and  demanded  it,  not 
as  an  aid  to  remaining  ill  with  contentment, 
but  as  a  necessary  means  of  overcoming 
disease.  “  Dost  thou  believe  that  I  am 
able  to  do  this  thing  ?  ”  That  is  His  ques¬ 
tion,  expressed  or  implied.  “  According  to 
thy  faith  be  it  done  unto  thee.”  That  is 
His  treatment.  ‘‘  Thy  faith  hath  made  thee 
whole.”  That  is  His  explanation  of  the 
cure.  At  once  we  feel  the  painful  contrast 


54 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


between  His  ministry  and  that  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth-century  Church.  Imagine  a  clergyman 
called  in  to  minister  to  a  woman  ill  for 
eighteen  years,  who  has  tried  many  treat¬ 
ments  and  consulted  many  physicians  in 
vain.  What  is  his  message  to  her  in  her 
discomfort  and  pain  and  disability  ?  The 
doctors  have  said  “  incurable,”  what  is  the 
priest  to  say  ?  Will  he  reflect  the  attitude 
of  the  physician  or  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  There 
is  his  dilemma,  the  challenge  to  his  faith.  We 
know  all  too  well  that  in  a  materialistic 
age  the  Church  has  too  often  failed  to  afiirm 
a  living  faith  in  a  living  God,  and  therefore 
the  signs  that  “  follow  them  that  beheve  ” 
have  not  appeared,  and  men  say  ‘‘  miracles 
do  not  happen.”  Our  Lord  says  otherwise. 
The  healing  of  men’s  bodies  was  an  integral 
part  of  His  ministry  of  deliverance.  He 
never  regarded  the  body  as  an  evil  thing  to 
be  suppressed  or  an  unimportant  thing  to  be 
neglected.  His  teaching  is  truly  reflected  in 
that  of  St  Paul,  that  the  body  is  the  temple 
of  the  Spirit  and  therefore  to  be  treated 
with  reverence,  and  kept  in  health  and  order 
for  God’s  use.  But  inasmuch  as  Jesus  did 
not  regard  the  body  as  a  thing  by  itself, 
apart  from  mind  and  spirit.  His  healing  of 


THE  HEALING  MINISTRY 


55 


men’s  bodies  was  intimately  associated  with 
His  healing  of  mind  and  spirit  as  well.  He 
was  at  pains  to  illuminate  men’s  minds  by 
continual  teaching  of  the  truth.  He  does 
not  confuse  simple  faith  with  ignorance. 
But,  demanding  faith  as  an  essential  for 
learning,  He  builds  on  that  foundation  a 
fabric  of  truth.  He  is  the  Teacher,  but  the 
Teacher  of  the  whole  truth,  showing  that 
the  visible  things  are  the  outward  showings 
of  the  inward  and  spiritual,  that  man’s  en¬ 
vironment  is  only  understood  when  he  realises 
himself  as  situated  not  merely  in  a  physical 
universe,  but  in  a  divine  order,  the  always - 
present  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  since 
physical  disease  and  disorder  are  associated 
with  sin  and  failure  to  live  in  harmony 
with  God’s  law,  part  of  His  ministry  of 
deliverance  takes  the  form  of  forgiveness  of 
sin.  Here  He  comes  into  conflict  with  the 
Pharisees,  who  recognise  that  the  forgiveness 
of  sins  is  a  divine  prerogative.  But  our 
Lord  claims  this  as  a  definite  part  of  His 
mission,  for  He  is  ministering  release  from 
all  man’s  bondage,  and  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  is  intimately  connected  with  the  de¬ 
liverance  from  disease. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  while  our 


56 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


Lord  carried  healing  and  restoration  to  all 
man’s  nature,  and  commanded  His  Church 
to  do  the  same,  He  never  suggested  that 
well-being  was  an  end  in  itself.  Though  He 
laboured  to  give  us  more  abundant  life.  He 
taught  very  definitely  that  he  that  loveth 
his  life  shall  lose  it.  The  only  true  use  of 
life  is  to  give  it  in  service.  We  are  made 
whole  in  order  that  we  may  be  enabled  to 
serve  more  efficiently.  Never  for  a  moment 
does  our  Lord  conceal  the  fact  that  the 
service  of  God  in  the  midst  of  an  apostate 
world  means  suffering.  Health  for  the  sake 
of  enjoying  life  is  not  worth  having.  But 
health  in  order  that  we  may  be  strong  to 
endure  is  to  be  sought  by  all  means.  Health 
and  suffering  are  not  antagonistic.  But  we 
are  to  suffer,  not  because  of  our  weaknesses 
and  ignorances  and  sins,  but  being  forgiven 
and  delivered  from  these,  we  are  to  be 
strong  to  bear  the  sins  of  the  world.  Our 
Lord  was  perfect  in  His  wholeness,  other¬ 
wise  He  could  not  have  borne  the  Cross. 
And  having  won  man’s  victory  on  the  Cross, 
He  sends  out  His  disciples  to  the  same 
ministry.  Healed  themselves  by  faith  in 
Him,  living  by  the  power  of  His  perfect 
life  imparted  to  them,  they  are  to  carry  the 


THE  HEALING  MINISTRY 


57 


Cross  daily,  and  conquer  the  world’s  malice 
by  suffering  in  the  power  of  His  love.  They 
are  to  go  forth  and  draw  all  men  unto  Him, 
preaching  the  gospel  of  deliverance,  engraft¬ 
ing  all  who  would  beheve  and  repent  into 
the  body  of  His  Church  by  baptism,  keeping 
them  all  in  continual  union  with  Him  in 
the  Communion  of  Saints,  ministering  by 
His  express  command  the  divine  forgiveness 
of  sins,  heahng  men’s  bodies  and  souls  by 
His  Spirit  working  through  them,  and  con¬ 
tinuing  in  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings 
as  long  as  the  sins  of  men  continue  to  grieve 
the  Spirit  of  God.  The  ministry  of  Christ 
is  one  with  the  ministry  of  His  Church, 
the  continuity  being  secured  by  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  the  ministry  of 
deliverance  from  all  that  impedes  life  and 
the  imparting  of  more  abundant  life  through 
union  with  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  Church’s 
vocation  to-day  as  much  as  on  the  Day  of 
Pentecost. 


H 


CHAPTER  V 


GRACE  AND  THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE 

We  have  seen  that  man,  distinguished  from 
the  animal  world  by  the  fact  of  his 
God-consciousness,  became  aware  of  three 
things  : 

1.  His  responsibihty  to  God.  God  re¬ 
quires  a  certain  standard  of  life  in  man, 
higher  than  the  brute  standard,  and  this 
standard  was  expressed  in  such  forms  as 
the  Ten  Commandments,  indicating  a  law 
of  worship,  of  morality,  of  self-discipline. 

2.  His  failure  to  live  up  to  the  standard, 
his  sense  of  sin. 

3.  His  need  of  God’s  help,  without  which 
man’s  debt  of  duty  could  not  be  paid,  nor 
could  any  reconciliation  be  effected.  Yet 
some  reconciliation  must  be  found,  for  man 
is  God’s  child,  and  intuitively  longs  for  his 
Father. 

Thence  sprang  and  grew  the  Messianic 
hope,  which  was  fulfilled  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Jesus  fulfilled  in  His  life  the  standard 


58 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  59 


required  from  man  by  God.  None  could 
convict  Him  of  sin.  His  life  was  a  perfect 
expression  of  willing  obedience.  And  He 
fulfilled  the  standard  of  sinless  obedience 
because  God  was  in  Him.  This  the  dis¬ 
ciples  did  not  understand  at  first.  It  was 
only  in  the  certainty  of  His  resurrection, 
and  in  the  light  of  the  experience  that  began 
at  Pentecost,  that  the  disciples  came  to 
know  that  “  in  Him  dwelt  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily.”  In  Christ  Jesus, 
God  had  revealed  Himself,  His  character 
as  far  as  manhood  could  express  it,  and 
His  attitude  towards  mankind.  And,  by 
taking  man’s  nature  into  Himself,  He  had 
proved  that  man’s  nature  is  essentially  good, 
and  capable  of  complete  union  with  God. 
And  further,  by  the  taking  of  man’s  nature 
eternally  into  union  with  Himself,  He  had 
provided  the  means  whereby  all  men  might 
be  brought  into  the  realisation  of  their 
sonship,  that  sonship  involving  both  re¬ 
conciliation  and  the  power  of  service  freely 
rendered  in  love. 

This  conviction  came  upon  the  Church, 
as  I  have  tried  to  show,  as  the  result  of  the 
experience  of  the  Gift  of  Pentecost.  They 
knew  themselves  reconciled  to  God,  they 


60 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


knew  themselves  possessed  and  governed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  controlled  by  the  Divine 
Will  to  which  they  joyfully  surrendered 
themselves,  soul  and  body,  a  willing  sacrifice, 
and  they  found  themselves  incorporated  into 
a  Body,  a  corporate  fellowship,  all  sharing 
one  Life,  the  Communion  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ,  and  able  to  transmit  that 
Life  by  incorporating,  according  to  Christ’s 
command,  all  others  who  were  willing  to 
beheve  and  surrender  themselves  to  Christ. 
That  is,  they  were  sure  of  the  inflow  and 
transmission  of  Grace,  through  certain  de¬ 
finite  sacramental  means,  such  as  Baptism, 
the  Laying-on  of  Hands,  and  the  Breaking 
of  the  Bread. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  and  contro¬ 
versy  has  raged  round  the  point,  wherein 
the  Grace,  of  which  the  Christian  speaks  as 
the  distinctive  endowment  of  Christ  to  His 
Church,  differs  from  the  natural  inheritance 
of  inherent  goodness  which  is  man’s  possession 
from  the  very  fact  that  God  made  him,  and 
made  him  good  ?  As  each  one  of  us  is 
endowed  with  a  God-given  capacity  to  thinks 
and  is  therefore  under  a  corresponding  obhga- 
tion  to  work  out  some  system  of  theology 
for  himself,  I  may  state  with  all  due 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  61 


deference  and  humility,  and  willingness  to 
be  corrected  where  I  may  be  in  error,  the 
answer  that  appeals  to  me,  though  it  may 
or  may  not  meet  with  the  agreement  of 
others.  To  me  it  seems  clear  that  the 
creative  energy  of  God  has  been  continuously 
and  without  interruption  at  work  upon  His 
universe,  which  while  at  first  it  reacted 
with  the  lifeless  plasticity  of  the  clay  to 
the  potter’s  hand,  gradually,  as  He  poured 
more  and  more  abundant  hfe-power  into  it, 
grew  to  respond  with  dawning  conscious¬ 
ness,  until  in  the  light  of  Christ’s  revelation, 
man  found  himself  a  son  of  God,  furnished 
with  power  of  God’s  supplying  to  answer 
to  the  Father’s  intention  with  the  free 
obedience  of  a  loving  son.  The  lifeless 
world  answered  the  Divine  impulse  with 
the  mechanical  obedience  of  a  bilHard-ball 
to  the  stroke  of  the  cue  in  the  player’s  hand, 
but  the  human  world  became  gradually  aware 
both  of  God’s  will,  and  of  an  answering 
tendency  to  obedience,  thwarted  by  the 
unruly  working  of  a  habit  of  self-will.  When 
that  self-will  is  repudiated  in  repentance, 
and  God’s  way  is  trusted  and  desired,  the 
Christian  finds  by  faith  that  virtue  flows 
into  him  from  Christ,  into  whose  Body  he 


62 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


has  been  incorporated,  and  this  virtue  enables 
him  to  respond  freely  to  the  will  of  God. 
His  response  is  not  the  compelled  reaction 
of  the  lifeless  clay,  but  the  willing  response 
of  a  son,  sent  with  a  commission  from  his 
Father,  Who  supplies  him  with  all  necessary 
power  and  guidance  for  carrying  out  his 
Father’s  wishes.  Grace,  then,  seems  to  me 
to  mean  the  God-given  power  to  live  in  con¬ 
scious  enjoyment  of  the  status  of  sonship, 
and  the  ability  to  obey  with  the  freewill 
that  springs  from  trust  and  love.  This 
grace,  in  all  its  forms,  God  gives  through 
Jesus  Christ,  Wdio  has  brought  our  fellow¬ 
ship  into  light,  and  it  comes  to  each  of  us, 
one  by  one,  by  the  creative  and  re- creative 
operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Thus  in  Christ, 
we  are  neither  tools,  nor  servants,  but  sons, 
enabled  by  grace  to  render  that  willing 
obedience  of  love  to  God,  which  should  be 
the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  Christian. 

The  working  out  of  Grace,  therefore,  involves 
two  things  :  (1)  on  God’s  part  a  full  and 
sufficient  provision  of  power  and  guidance, 
an  ample  supply  for  the  son’s  necessity ; 
and  (2)  on  man’s  part,  a  willing  and  trustful 
surrender  to  God’s  control,  a  definite  self- 
giving  to  God,  to  do  His  will,  and  a  refusal 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  63 


to  adhere  to  any  sort  of  self-will  which 
diverges  from  God :  in  fact,  a  death  to  sin, 
and  a  life  unto  God. 

It  follows  that  the  means  of  grace,  which 
we  call  sacraments,  are  very  different  from 
mere  charms.  Their  efficacy  depends  upon 
the  co-operation  of  God  and  man,  and  in 
considering  any  sacrament  we  have  to  think 
first,  is  this  being  done  in  accordance  with 
the  will  of  God  as  revealed  by  Christ,  and 
secondly,  is  man  fulfilling  the  necessary  con¬ 
ditions  for  receiving  the  grace  of  the  sacra¬ 
ment  ?  The  second  question,  which  is  vital, 
we  shall  consider  later.  At  present  let  us 
think  of  the  first,  the  will  of  God  to  give 
grace  through  material  means. 

When  we  think  of  God  as  Creator  and 
Sustainer  of  the  universe,  we  are  bound  to 
believe  that  He  does  all  things  with  a  pur¬ 
pose,  that  He  is  using  the  outward  creation 
as  the  instruments  and  channels  of  His 
will.  The  whole  world  is  working  out  His 
purpose,  and  is  enabled  to  do  so  by  power 
and  virtue  of  His  giving.  We  have  thought 
of  one  ladder  of  evolution,  by  which  the 
creature  has  climbed  from  the  dust  of  the 
earth  into  the  position  of  conscious  relation¬ 
ship  with  God.  But  there  are  other  ladders 


64 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


of  divine  traffic  between  earth  and  heaven, 
upon  which  the  angelic  ascendings  and  de- 
scendings  are  much  more  swift  than  upon 
the  slow  ladder  of  evolving  creation.  Think, 
for  example,  of  God’s  dealings  with  a  grain 
of  wheat.  It  is  a  product  of  divine  labour, 
in  which  life  is  embodied  in  the  seed.  That 
seed,  sown  in  the  earth,  becomes  a  laboratory, 
taking  the  substances  of  the  earth  into  itself, 
and  using  them  to  build  a  growing  body  by 
cell-multiplication,  a  new  body  consisting 
of  root,  and  stem,  and  leaf,  and  presently 
ears,  and  fruitage  of  corn  ;  all  by  a  co-opera¬ 
tion  between  the  life  in  the  seed  and  the 
sun,  air,  rain,  and  soil.  The  harvest  is 
yielded  up  to  man,  who  has  been  co¬ 
operating  with  the  powers  of  nature  for  its 
production.  Part  of  the  grain  he  sets  aside 
for  future  sowing,  for  further  crops,  and 
part  is  ground  and  prepared  for  bread.  Man 
eats  the  bread  and  incorporates  it  into  his 
body.  It  is  assimilated  and  is  carried  in 
his  blood- stream  to  build  up  his  tissues. 
Part  is  used  to  nourish  the  brain-cells  which 
he  uses  when  he  thinks.  Suppose  he  is 
thinker  and  writer,  a  St  John  the  Divine, 
or  a  St  Thomas  a  Kempis,  engaged  in 
spiritual  meditation  and  converse  with  the 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  65 


Holy  Spirit  of  God.  He  uses  his  brain- 
cells,  which  have  been  kept  in  life  by  the 
food  which  he  has  taken  from  the  earth, 
as  the  instrument  whereby  he  is  enabled 
to  embody  his  spiritual  thoughts  in  words, 
and  give  them  forth  through  his  fingers 
with  ink,  and  pen,  and  paper,  to  stir  the 
thoughts  of  men  and  influence  their  lives 
for  centuries  to  come.  Or,  God  may  reserve 
part  of  the  grain  for  another  purpose ;  it  is 
offered  and  taken  into  the  Hands  of  Christ, 
Who  is  using  His  minister  at  the  altar.  He 
blesses  it  with  His  life-giving  Spirit,  and 
incorporates  it  into  His  spiritual  Body, 
breaks  it,  as  His  Body,  ix,  the  vehicle  of 
His  life,  for  distribution  to  His  members, 
that  they.  His  spiritual  members,  may  feed 
on  His  life,  and  thus  continue  in  their  in¬ 
corporated  unity  with  Him,  and  with  one 
another  in  Him,  in  obedience  to  His  word : 
‘‘  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  Body  which  is  broken 
for  you.”  “  Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you.” 
So  St  Paul  writes  :  ‘‘I  speak  to  wise  men ; 
judge  ye  what  I  say.  The  cup  of  blessing 
which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of 
the  Blood  of  Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we 
break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  Body 
of  Christ  ?  For  we  being  many  are  one 


66 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


bread,  one  body — ^for  we  are  all  partakers 
of  that  one  bread.”  The  bread,  taken  from 
the  earth,  has  been  raised  to  a  spiritual 
power  by  the  Divine  operation,  and  made 
the  bread  of  souls. 

Again  there  is  another  ladder  made.  It 
has  been  taught  us  by  science  that  the 
human  body  in  its  development  reproduces 
the  whole  history  of  the  evolution  of  the 
race.  So  it  was  with  our  great  Forerunner, 
Jesus  Christ.  His  natural  body  was  drawn 
like  ours  from  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and 
He  has  carried  human  nature,  not  only 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  this  life  unim¬ 
paired,  but  through  that  dissolution  of  bodily 
death,  which  precedes  the  re-integration  of 
the  spiritual  body.  In  His  resurrection-body 
He  showed  to  His  Church  that  spiritual 
body,  and  in  it  exalted  our  human  nature 
to  the  destiny  which  God  had  from  the 
beginning  intended  for  it,  the  place  of  the 
son,  in  whom  the  Father  is  well  pleased. 
It  is  that  perfect  human  nature,  tested  and 
found  true,  victorious  over  all  man’s  enemies, 
that  our  Lord,  still  true  man  as  well  as  true 
God,  shares  with  us  in  the  sacramental 
fellowship  of  His  Body  the  Church,  so  that 
we,  being  made  members  of  that  Body, 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  67 


have  access  to  all  the  grace  which  His  in- 
carnate  Life  wrought  out  on  this  earth,  and 
through  sharing  in  His  human  nature,  have 
access  to  the  divine  nature,  which  is  eternally 
united  with  it.  Thus,  by  the  coming  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  Church,  by  the 
incorporation  of  the  children  one  by  one 
into  the  membership  of  the  Church,  and 
by  the  continual  sharing  in  the  sacramental 
fellowship  of  the  Life  which  is  in  His  Body 
the  Church,  the  coming  of  Christ  is  revealed 
to  be,  not  a  visit  to  earth  and  a  departure, 
but  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  evolu¬ 
tion,  whereby  man  is  enabled  to  emerge  into 
his  highest  state,  the  state  of  salvation,  of 
wholeness  of  being,  through  conscious  fellow¬ 
ship  with  the  power,  wisdom,  and  love  of 
God.  In  the  Church  of  Christ  we  come  into 
our  heritage  as  the  accepted  sons  of  God. 

Now  whether  we  accept  this  as  true  or  not 
will  depend  upon  our  attitude  towards  Jesus 
Christ.  The  belief  in  His  Diety  is  the  founda¬ 
tion-rock  upon  which  the  whole  Church  is 
built.  But  here  again,  as  thinking  beings,  we 
have  to  face  the  task,  which  often  involves  no 
little  pain,  of  working  out  our  faith,  from  the 
beautiful  trustfulness  of  the  child  who  believes 
because  he  is  told  by  those  whom  he  trusts 


68 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


and  loves,  into  the  tough  enduring  conviction 
of  the  adult  who  has  thought  and  struggled 
and  prayed  and  hammered  out  his  belief  on 
the  anvil  of  experience.  To  each  his  own 
experience  by  which  God  leads  him  home. 
I  had  to  doubt  every  article  of  the  Faith 
before  I  could  come  to  believe  for  myself, 
and  on  that  article  relating  to  our  Lord’s 
Person,  I  went  through  the  Gospels  noting 
every  saying  of  Jesus  which  seemed  to 
amount  to  a  claim  to  be  more  than  man. 
Many  of  the  sayings  and  doings  the  apostles 
admittedly  could  not  understand,  but  they 
noted  and  remembered  them.  Taken  together 
they  left  me  with  no  shadow  of  doubt  that 
Jesus  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  in  a 
different  sense  from  that  in  which  other 
men  might  call  themselves  such.  The  dis¬ 
ciples  believed  to  a  certain  extent,  but  their 
hopes  were  shattered  by  the  Crucifixion. 
If  that  incident  had  ended  their  experience 
of  association  with  Jesus,  there  could  never 
have  been  any  Gospel.^  The  record  ended 
in  their  master’s  defeat  and  their  shame. 
Nothing  but  the  Resurrection,  a  fact  which 
they  found  it  very  hard  to  believe  at  first, 

^  See  on  this  subject  ‘‘  The  Mind  of  the  Disciples  ”  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Neville  Talbot  (Bp.  of  Pretoria). 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  69 


could  have  changed  their  consciousness  of 
shattered  hope  and  bitter  loss  into  the  un¬ 
alterable  certainty  and  absolute  fearlessness 
with  which  the  apostles  preached  the  victory 
of  Christ  over  sin  and  death,  and  the  for¬ 
giveness  of  sins  through  His  atoning  sacrifice. 
The  accounts  which  we  have  in  the  Acts  and 
the  Epistles  are  contemporary  history.  If 
they  are  based  on  a  hallucination,  then  the 
religion  which  is  the  highest  that  man  has 
known  is  grounded  on  a  hallucination.  That 
is  too  absurd  for  me  to  believe.  The  Resur¬ 
rection  as  a  fact  is  congruous  with  Christ’s 
life  and  character.  I  am  sure  that  He 
claimed  to  be  God ;  either  the  claim  was 
true,  or  it  was  madness  or  blasphemy ;  and 
I  cannot  believe  that  the  noblest  religion 
in  history  has  sprung  out  of  madness  or 
blasphemy.  I  cannot  resist  the  conclusion 
that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  very  God  and 
very  Man,  of  one  substance  with  the  Father, 
the  Father’s  agent  in  creation  and  in  re¬ 
demption,  by  whose  Incarnation,  Death^  and 
Resurrection,  the  way  lias  been  made  open 
for  all  mankind  into  the  heaven- state  of 
conscious  reconciliation  and  fellowship  with 
God  the  Father. 

When  one  has  reached  conviction,  by 


70 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


whatever  path  one  may  be  led,  and  has 
come  to  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord 
and  God,  as  well  as  Saviour  and  Friend,  it 
becomes  an  easy  matter  to  trust  the  sacra¬ 
ments  as  means  of  grace.  We  only  require 
to  know,  do  they  rest  on  His  authority  ? 
The  familiar  analogy  of  the  cheque  is  quite 
applicable.  The  cheque,  say  for  £100,  its 
paper  and  ink,  has  an  intrinsic  value  of  next 
to  nothing,  but  if  it  bears  a  genuine  signa¬ 
ture,  and  if  he  who  wrote  it  is  good  for  the 
amount  mentioned,  the  value  that  it  carries 
— ^its  sacramental  value — ^is  £100,  and  it  is 
the  only  value  about  which  the  recipient 
cares.  Its  value  rests  upon  the  signature 
and  the  credit  of  the  sender ;  not  upon 
the  quality  of  the  paper,  but  what  the  sender 
uses  it  for.  So  a  sacrament  rests  not  on 
the  value  of  its  material  channel,  but  on 
the  promise  of  our  Lord.  If  He  appointed 
it,  His  credit  is  sufficient  for  us.  Or,  if 
this  be  too  prosaic  an  analogy,  think  how 
the  child’s  kiss,  the  material  pressure  of 
lips  upon  a  cheek,  conveys  to  the  mother  a 
spiritual  thing,  her  little  one’s  love.  So  with 
the  handshake,  which,  truly  used,  carries 
friendship.  The  sacramental  principle  is 
famihar  to  us  by  daily  use. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  71 


Of  each  sacramental  channel  of  grace 
we  may  ask,  what  is  its  origin  ?  Can  we 
trace  it  to  our  Lord  ?  Did  the  apostles 
use  it  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 
If  so,  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  it  is  a  true 
channel  of  Divine  grace,  conveying  to  us 
spiritual  help  for  our  well-being  and  health 
of  soul  and  body.  Then  we  have  to  con¬ 
sider  what  conditions  we  have  to  fulfil  in 
order  to  accept  and  make  use  of  the  grace 
which  God  by  the  sacraments  puts  within 
our  reach. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  {continued) 

We  have  thought  of  various  ladders  of 
ascent  and  descent,  lines  of  communication 
and  traffic  between  God  and  His  creation, 
the  slow  ladder  of  evolution,  by  which  in 
response  to  never-interrupted  divine  working 
the  creature  has  gradually  climbed  into  a 
position  not  only  of  God-consciousness  as 
man,  but  also  of  accepted  sonship  through 
Jesus  Christ,  bound  to  the  Father  by  the 
bond,  no  longer  of  mechanical  compulsion, 
no  longer  of  servile  subjection,  but  of  free 
filial  love,  confidence,  and  willing  obedience. 
We  thought  of  a  second  ladder  of  assimila¬ 
tion,  by  which  the  raw  materials  of  earth 
are  incorporated  into  the  body  and  the  brain 
of  a  man,  and  become  his  instruments 
whereby  he  thinks,  and  shows  to  the  world 
the  teachings  which  he  receives  in  colloquy 
with  the*  Holy  Spirit.  Again  we  thought 
of  the  ladder  of  the  Incarnation,  whereon 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  carried  human  nature, 

72 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  73 


the  highest  product  of  the  Holy  Spirit’s 
operation  upon  the  dust  of  the  earth,  through 
all  the  experience  of  manhood,  through  death 
and  resurrection  and  ascension  to  the  Right 
Hand  of  the  Father,  and  gave  a  complete 
revelation  both  of  the  Father’s  purpose  for 
His  children,  and  of  the  essential  holiness 
of  human  nature  and  its  capacity  for  being 
filled  with  God. 

Further,  we  have  realised  that  the  In¬ 
carnation  is  not  a  ladder  let  down  from 
heaven  and  then  drawn  up  at  the  Ascension 
out  of  the  reach  of  earth,  but  that  the  new 
era  begun  at  Bethlehem  continues  to  this 
day  through  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  His  continual  abiding  in  Christ’s  Body 
the  Church,  into  which,  by  Christ’s  com¬ 
mand,  all  who  will  are  to  be  incorporated 
out  of  all  mankind  into  living  membership, 
and  in  which  all  the  members  are  to  be 
maintained  in  wholeness  of  being  through 
the  continual  sharing  in  the  perfect  Life  of 
Christ,  the  Communion  of  His  Body  and 
Blood. 

When  we  think  of  the  Sacraments,  the 
outward  and  visible  channels  along  which 
flow  streams  of  life  which  spring  from  their 
source  hidden  in  the  unseen  life  of  God, 

K 


74 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


we  may  see  that  in  them  God  has  made 
full  and  complete  provision  for  all  the  spiritual 
need  of  mankind.  Being  embodied  spirits, 
hving  meantime  in  a  world  that  is  outward 
and  material — and  this  by  God’s  design — 
we  require  outward  channels  and  instruments 
for  spiritual  gifts,  and  there  is  no  sort  of 
contradiction  or  antagonism  between  the 
spiritual  and  the  material.  Rather  the 
material  comes  into  its  own  when  it  is  used 
as  the  spirit’s  vehicle.  The  paper  and  ink 
of  an  old  letter  have  their  value  because 
they  enshrine  dear  thoughts  expressed  in 
them  by  one  who  is  dear  to  us.  Paper  and 
ink  may  convey  not  merely  money,  but 
what  money  cannot  buy,  love.  And  we 
know  that  our  material  bodies  are  equipped 
for  the  expression  of  spiritual  relationships. 
And  not  only  so,  but  if  we  imagine  that 
friendship  and  love  can  be  maintained  intact 
in  this  world  without  bodily  showings,  and 
act  on  that  belief,  we  should  soon  find  our¬ 
selves  friendless.  This  may  be  put  to  the 
proof  at  any  time.  Pass  your  best  friend 
from  time  to  time  in  the  street,  and  betray 
your  friendship  by  no  bodily  sign  of  recog¬ 
nition,  no  expression  of  friendliness ;  and 
he  will  at  once  infer  that  there  is  something 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  75 


amiss  in  your  relationship.  Lovers  who 
never  sought  to  express  their  love  would 
cease  to  be  lovers.  And  love  is  a  spiritual 
thing.  Thus  it  is  congruous  with  all  the 
rest  of  our  experience  of  God’s  arrangements 
in  His  outward  universe  that  there  should 
be  provided  outward  vehicles  and  channels 
of  communication  between  Christ  and  His 
members,  wrought  out,  like  all  else,  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  made  effective  in  mankind 
by  the  co-operation  of  the  receiver  with  the 
Giver. 

At  the  outset  of  life  we  are  given  the 
grace  of  Baptism.  The  paper,  so  to  speak, 
of  the  cheque,  consists  of  the  water  and 
the  words.  The  bank  is  the  bank  of  Christ’s 
credit.  He  commanded  that  people  should 
be  baptized  in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  New 
birth  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
said  by  Him  to  be  essential  for  entrance 
into  the  heavenly  relationship  which  God 
has  prepared  for  mankind.  If  Christ’s  credit 
as  God  incarnate  fails,  baptism  and  all  other 
sacraments  lose  their  value  at  once.  But 
to  those  who  believe  in  Jesus  as  Lord  and 
God,  St  Paul  points  out  the  sacramental 
value,  the  spiritual  significance  of  Baptism 


76 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


when  he  says  :  “  By  one  Spirit  are  ye  all 
baptized  into  one  Body.”  Baptism  is  an 
act,  a  new  creative  act,  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
incorporating  a  human  spirit  into  a  living 
union  with  Christ  Jesus.  Membership  of 
Christ’s  Body  is  the  supreme  fact  in  the 
life  of  the  baptized.  If  he  co-operates  with 
the  grace  of  Baptism  he  becomes  no  longer 
conformed  to  this  world,  but  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  his  mind,  as  he  makes 
proof  by  experience  of  the  perfect  gift  of 
God. 

Baptism  is  no  charm,  nor  is  any  other 
gift  of  God.  Its  grace  may  be  refused, 
opposed,  rejected.  But  properly  received 
and  accepted,  the  grace  of  union  with  Christ 
continues  to  operate,  enabling  us  to  sub¬ 
ordinate  all  our  natural  powers  and  instincts, 
all  our  God-given  properties  as  human 
beings,  to  their  true  spiritual  ends  and 
purposes,  and  bring  them  to  their  truest 
proportion  in  a  regenerated  life  in  conscious 
union  with  God’s  will. 

But  Baptism  is  only  the  first  of  the  vital 
gifts  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is 
supplemented  by  gift  after  gift.  After  the 
child  learns  to  believe  in  God  his  Father^ 
in  Jesus  Christ  his  Saviour,  and  in  the 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  77 


Holy  Spirit,  Who  joined  him  to  Jesus  in 
baptism,  after  he  has  learned  that  God 
expects  him  to  live  as  the  child  of  God, 
after  he  has  learned  how  to  speak  to  his 
Father  in  prayer,  and  to  listen  to  Him  in 
his  conscience,  when  he  begins  to  feel  the 
need  of  more  strength  and  guidance  if  he 
is  to  live  a  true  life,  then  we  teach  him  to 
look  forward  to  the  next  great  gift,  the 
sevenfold  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  given 
by  the  Laying- on  of  Apostolic  Hands  with 
prayer.  The  outward  part,  the  paper  and 
ink  of  this  cheque,  is  the  vocal  prayer  for 
the  gift,  and  the  laying-on  of  the  Bishop’s 
hands.  That  this  is  a  genuine  cheque,  and 
bears  Christ’s  signature,  we  are  satisfied  by 
our  reading  of  the  New  Testament.  Our 
Lord  emphasised  again  and  again  in  His 
last  teaching  to  His  apostles,  the  promise 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  come,  that  He 
would  be  their  guide  in  teaching  and  practice, 
and  commanded  that  they  should  go  forth 
into  all  the  world  in  His  Name,  and  in  the 
power  of  the  Spirit,  to  minister  all  His  gifts 
of  eternal  life  to  all  nations.  St  Peter, 
filled  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  preaches  to  the  multitude  that 
the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  fulfilment 


78 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


of  J  oel’s  prophecy  that  God  would  pour 
out  His  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.  He  explains 
that  it  is  consequent  on  the  Resurrection 
and  Ascension  of  Jesus,  and  promises  to 
those  who  repent,  believe,  and  are  baptized, 
that  they  too  shall  receive  the  Holy  Spirit : 
“For  the  promise  is  for  you  and  your 
children,  and  for  those  that  are  afar  off, 
even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall 
call.”  And  we  find  that  the  apostles,  SS. 
John,  Peter,  and  Paul,  imparted  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  the  laying- on  of  hands  with  prayer. 
We  see  also  that  St  Philip,  though  made  a 
deacon  by  the  apostolic  laying-on  of  hands, 
and  able  to  do  great  work  as  an  inspired 
evangelist,  does  not  attempt  to  confirm  his 
converts,  but  waits  for  the  apostles  to 
come  to  impart  to  them  the  Holy  Spirit 
by  the  laying-on  of  hands.  Also  the  writer 
to  the  Hebrews  tells  us  that  the  laying-on 
of  hands  is  one  of  the  foundation-principles 
of  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  Thus  the  Church 
of  the  first  days  found  that  Christ  honoured 
His  cheque ;  the  Church  ever  since  has 
had  the  same  experience.  The  sacramental 
value,  the  spiritual  thing  conveyed  by  the 
outward  instrument,  is  just  that  equipment 
of  intellectual  and  spiritual  power  which 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  79 


every  Christian  needs  if  he  is  to  make  full 
proof  of  his  redeemed  humanity,  and  live 
in  true  and  free  subordination  to  the  Divine 
control ;  “  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  under¬ 
standing,  the  spirit  of  counsel  and  ghostly 
strength,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  true 
godlikeness,  and  the  spirit  of  holy  fear.” 
These  spiritual  gifts  complete  the  gift  of 
Baptism. 

But  Confirmation,  like  Baptism,  is  no 
charm.  The  recipient  may  leave  his  cheque 
uncashed,  may  treat  it  as  a  useless  scrap 
of  paper,  may  squander  the  wealth  con-  * 
veyed  to  him.  It  is  possible  to  inherit 
wealth  and  so  abuse  it  as  to  be  worse  off 
than  before.  But  for  the  development  of 
spiritual  life  there  is  required  not  only 
exercise  but  food.  The  members  of  Christ’s 
Body  are  maintained  in  health  not  only 
by  their  spiritual  nerve- supply,  the  con¬ 
tinual  tonic  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit’s 
inspiration,  but  also  by  the  circulation  of 
a  spiritual  blood- stream.  The  life  that  is 
in  the  Body  is  ministered  through  the 
appropriate  vessels  to  all  the  members  in 
the  Blood.  Having  been  incorporated  into 
Christ,  we  members  are  to  continue  in 
spiritual  life  by  feeding  upon  His  Life. 


80 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


‘‘  He  that  eateth  Me,  even  he  shall  live 
by  Me.”  And  our  sharing  in  the  Life 
of  Christ  in  Holy  Communion  fulfils  for 
us  spiritually  the  purposes  of  the  physical 
circulation  in  our  natural  bodies.  To  this 
we  shall  return  in  a  later  chapter. 

We  are  not  concerned  at  this  moment 
with  the  graces  conveyed  by  the  sacra¬ 
mental  channels  of  Holy  Matrimony  and 
Holy  Order,  but  the  mere  recital  of  the 
spiritual  benefits  provided  in  Baptism,  Con¬ 
firmation,  and  Holy  Communion  at  once 
suggests  that  the  Church  would  be  very 
different  from  what  at  present  it  appears 
to  be  if  the  graces  of  these  sacraments 
were  more  fully  realised  by  their  recipients. 
The  members  of  the  Church  fail  in  their 
co-operation  with  the  grace  of  God ;  the 
failure  is  in  us,  not  in  our  Lord.  And 
therefore,  while  we  are  still  struggling,  with 
only  partial  success,  and  many  falls,  our 
Lord,  Who  knows  what  is  in  man,  has  pro¬ 
vided  in  His  Church  two  sacramental  means 
of  repair,  one  for  the  healing  of  the  sin- 
sick  soul,  absolution,  and  the  other  for  the 
healing  of  the  body,  anointing.  We  trace 
our  authority  for  both  of  these  to  our 
Lord,  and  to  the  practice  of  the  apostles 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  81 


under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Jesus  said  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath  power 
to  forgive  sins.  In  His  manhood  He  cast 
out  devils  by  the  Holy  Spirit’s  power,  by 
the  finger  of  God.  And  in  giving  His 
Spirit  to  the  apostles  He  said :  “  Whose¬ 
soever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
unto  them,  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained.”  The  apostles  knew 
themselves  commissioned  with  a  ministry  of 
reconciliation,  and  the  ministry  of  God’s 
forgiveness  has  been  part  of  the  steward¬ 
ship  of  the  mysteries  of  God  which  the 
Church  has  exercised  ever  since.  In  our 
ordinal,  when  the  Bishop’s  hands  are  laid 
upon  the  candidate  for  the  priesthood, 
the  words  are  said :  “  Receive  the  Holy 
Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  priest 
in  the  Church  of  God,  now  committed 
unto  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands. 
Whose  sins  thou  dost  remit,  they  are  re¬ 
mitted  unto  them,  and  whose  sins  thou 
dost  retain,  they  are  retained.  And  be 
thou  a  faithful  dispenser  of  the  word 
of  God  and  of  His  sacraments,  in  the 
Name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.”  Thus  definitely  is  the 
priest  commissioned  to  carry  to  all  who 


82 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


truly  seek  it,  the  comfort  and  strengthen¬ 
ing  grace  of  God’s  forgiveness.  The  sinner 
confesses  his  sins,  the  priest  absolves,  but 
the  forgiveness  ministered  is  the  gift  of 
God  through  Jesus  Christ. 

So  with  the  healing  of  the  body ;  our 
Lord,  Who  spent  much  time  in  healing 
the  sick,  definitely  commanded  His  dis¬ 
ciples  to  do  the  same,  in  His  name  and 
power ;  “  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely 

give.”  The  apostles,  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  conveyed  God’s  gift  of  healing  to 
the  sick,  by  such  means  as  the  laying-on 
of  hands,  anointing  with  oil,  and  other  ways 
also;  and  soon  the  regular  practice  of  the 
Church  followed  St  James’  indication  :  “Is 
any  among  you  sick  ?  Let  him  send  for 
the  elders  of  the  Church,  and  let  them 
pray  over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in 
the  Name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  prayer 
of  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord 
will  raise  him  up.  And  if  he  have  com¬ 
mitted  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him.” 
Here  the  sacramental  healing  of  body  and 
soul  are  conjoined.  The  testimony  of  the 
first  seven  centuries  of  our  era  shows  that 
anointing  was  used  for  the  spiritual  healing 
of  the  sick ;  it  was  not  till  later  that  it 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  83 


became  gradually  dropped  and  replaced  by 
extreme  unction  of  the  dying,  just  as  among 
the  faithless  to-day,  prayer  for  the  sick  tends 
to  be  postponed  till  all  other  means  have 
been  tried  in  vain. 

In  all  the  sacraments  the  purpose  is  to 
bring  the  recipient  into  immediate  contact 
with  our  Lord  for  the  receiving  of  hfe 
more  abundant.  And  the  right  reception  of 
the  sacraments  demands  a  right  approach, 
and  a  true  preparation  of  the  heart  in 
coming  to  meet  the  Saviour.  The  prepara¬ 
tion  is  the  preparation  of  repentance,  faith, 
and  love.  These  three  are  not  successive 
steps  in  time.  Though  repentance  is  usually 
mentioned  first  there  can  be  no  real  re¬ 
pentance  without  behef  in  God’s  love, 
and  repentance  is  not  complete  unless  it 
manifests  love  not  only  to  God,  but  forgiv¬ 
ing  love  to  one’s  neighbours.  The  three 
develop  together  in  the  soul.  As  repentance 
deepens  faith  becomes  clearer,  and  love 
shines  more  brightly.  And  love  as  it  grows, 
enlarges  faith,  and  makes  penitence  still 
deeper. 

Note. — There  is  a  not  uncommon  disposition  to¬ 
day,  shared  by  many  thoughtful  physicians,  to 
regard  the  sacraments  from  the  psychological  point 


84 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


of  view  as  valuable  means  of  suggestion.  We 
may  quite  well  agree  with  this  view,  provided  we 
understand  what  we  mean  by  suggestion,  and  realise 
that  the  minister  of  the  saerament  is  only  the  medium 
and  not  the  souree  of  the  suggestion.  “  Truly 
our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father  and  with  His  Son 
Jesus  Christ  ”  (1  St  John  i.  3).  It  is  necessary 
to  insist  that  life  for  the  Christian  is  essentially 
union  with  the  supernatural.  The  suggestion  in 
the  sacraments  is  God’s,  not  man’s  merely.  Their 
proper  reception  depends  on  faith  in  God.  And 
all  who  trust  God  will  be  sure  that  His  suggestions 
are  true,  ix.  that  He  does  actually  convey  the 
spiritual  gifts  which  He  promises  to  give  through 
the  sacraments. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH 

In  the  last  chapter  we  began  to  think  of 
the  way  of  spiritual  approach  to  our  Lord. 
A  right  spiritual  approach  is  essential  if 
the  grace  of  the  sacraments  is  to  be 
effective  in  us,  for  we  have  seen  that 
grace  does  not  work  mechanically,  but 
requires  a  co-operation  on  our  part  with 
God. 

We  saw  that  the  three  steps  of  repent¬ 
ance,  faith,  and  charity  are  not  entirely 
successive  steps  in  a  chronological  order, 
for  some  degree  of  faith  is  essential  to  the 
birth  of  penitence,  while  charity  is  a  neces¬ 
sity  for  its  development.  And  faith  grows 
clearer  by  the  operation  of  penitence  and 
love.  Each  of  the  three  requires  the  other 
two.  But  lest  any  should  think  that  this 
makes  the  approach  to  God  in  the  sacra¬ 
ments  very  hard,  inasmuch  as  faith,  peni¬ 
tence,  and  love  are  difficult  to  acquire,  let 
us  be  quite  clear  at  once  that  these  are 

85 


86 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


not  simply  human  accomplishments,  but 
free  gifts  of  God  to  be  had  for  the  asking. 
Being  marks  of  God’s  contact  with  man, 
and  fruits  of  the  Spirit’s  indwelling,  we 
may  be  quite  certain  that  they  are  gifts 
which  God  intends  us  to  have,  and  there¬ 
fore  we  may  pray  for  them  with  the  certain 
assurance  that  if  we  really  desire  them  they 
will  be  granted  us  freely. 

Let  us  in  this  chapter  take  the  power  to 
believe,  and  consider  Faith  and  its  cultivation. 
The  raw  material  of  faith  is  of  universal 
distribution ;  every  living  creature  has  to 
begin  by  trusting  its  environment.  The 
young  of  wild  animals  will  even  trust  that 
dangerous  beast  of  prey  called  man,  until 
instructed  by  their  parents,  who  have  learned 
by  experience,  that  the  human  being  is  a 
dangerous  and  untrustworthy  companion. 
Those  who  have  read  Benjamin  Kidd’s 
“  Science  of  Power  ”  will  remember  his  ex¬ 
periment  with  the  wild  ducklings  who  played 
with  him  on  the  friendliest  terms  until  their 
shocked  and  frightened  mother  taught  them 
not  to  trust  strangers.  The  child  must 
trust  his  parents  or  die,  and  if  they  prove 
trustworthy  they  develop  in  him  the  habit 
of  trust,  not  only  in  them,  but  in  the 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  87 


God  to  Whom  he  sees  them  pray.  A  little 
child  has  no  difficulty  in  learning  that  God 
unseen  is  ever  near.  The  unseen  is  quite 
as  obvious  to  the  child  as  the  seen.  And 
so  he  can  learn  very  truly  to  pray,  and 
grow  in  spirit  by  converse  with  God. 
He  learns  to  form  a  conception  of  God 
as  his  ever-present  though  unseen  Father. 
He  begins  to  learn  what  God  expects  of 
His  child  in  the  way  of  obedience.  He 
believes  when  taught  that  God  loves  him 
and  grieves  when  His  child  is  naughty. 
Thus  even  already  faith,  sorrow  for  sin, 
and  love  become  associated  in  his  mind. 
And  this  becomes  illuminated  as  he  learns 
of  the  Incarnation,  which  naturally  serves 
as  a  corrective  to  false  ideas  of  God  which 
he  sometimes  receives  from  adults.  As 
an  example  of  this  let  me  cite  a  con¬ 
versation  that  took  place  in  a  Sunday 
kindergarten.  One  child,  aged  six,  had 
heard  a  damnable  heresy,  and  repeated  it 
to  this  effect :  “If  you  are  naughty,  God 
does  not  love  you  any  more.”  “  The 
wonderful  thing,”  said  the  teacher,  “  is 
that  God  does  not  stop  loving  you,  even 
when  you  are  naughty.  He  does  love  you 
still,  but  He  is  very  very  sorry.”  “  Oh,” 


88 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


said  the  six-year-old,  “  that  is  like  Christ 
crucified.”  We  sophisticated  grown-up  people 
often  think  that  sacramental  doctrine  is 
too  difficult  for  the  child  to  understand, 
forgetting,  because  we  do  not  understand, 
that  spiritual  things  are  spiritually  dis¬ 
cerned,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  open  to  the  child-spirit.  Two  other 
kindergarten  instances  within  my  know¬ 
ledge  will  illustrate  this.  The  little  ones 
had  been  taught  about  baptism,  they  had 
drawn  a  baptism  in  coloured  chalks  on 
brown  paper,  and  they  had  been  taken 
to  Church  to  see  the  actual  sacrament  of 
baptism  administered.  Afterwards  the  teacher 
questioned  them,  and  asked  what  happened 
when  the  priest  blesses  the  water.  Straight 
from  a  six-year-old  came  the  reply,  ‘‘The 
Holy  Ghost  gets  in.”  I  should  be  glad  to 
meet  any  doctor  of  divinity  who  could 
put  the  essential  truth  more  completely 
in  five  words.  The  other  example  is  of 
a  child  of  five  years,  attending  for  the 
first  time  a  children’s  Eucharist.  Being  a 
sophisticated  adult,  I  had  been  prejudiced 
against  children’s  Eucharists,  never  having 
seen  one,  but  after  the  whole  Sunday  School, 
including  the  infants,  had  been  receiving 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  89 


instruction  on  Holy  Communion,  I  arranged 
a  service  one  Saturday  morning.  Some  of 
the  parents  came  and  communicated,  while 
the  children  sang  the  hymns  and  followed 
the  service.  A  little  boy  of  five  was  kneel¬ 
ing  next  his  teacher,  and  when  it  came  to 
the  Prayer  of  Consecration  he  turned  to 
her  with  a  smile  of  understanding.  After 
the  service  she  asked :  “  Weren’t  you  tired, 
Billy,  kneeling  all  that  time  ?  ”  “  Oh, 

no,”  he  answered,  with  sparkling  eyes,  “  you 
see  we  knew  what  it  was.”  And  yet  you 
will  meet  people  quite  frequently  who  will 
tell  you  that  children  of  ten  do  not  under¬ 
stand  enough  to  be  confirmed.  Such  a  re¬ 
mark  only  proves  that  they  do  not  know 
what  a  child  is,  what  confirmation  is,  and 
what  they  have  missed  by  not  having  been 
taught  in  a  Sunday  kindergarten.  They 
were  probably  confirmed  when  they  were 
fourteen  or  fifteen,  when  they  were  too  old, 
having  lost  the  simple  understanding  of 
their  childhood’s  faith,  and  too  young,  as 
they  had  not  yet  attained  to  the  assurance 
of  the  adult. 

Between  childhood  and  adult  life  comes 
the  stormy  period  of  adolescence.  It  is  a 
time  of  revolution,  the  whole  nature  is 

M 


90 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


changing.  One  might  almost  say  that  the 
difference  between  a  boy  of  sixteen  and  a 
boy  of  ten  is  a  difference  not  of  degree, 
but  of  kind.  The  adolescent  is  not  the 
least  like  his  little  brother,  and  he  is  quite 
different  from  his  father,  and  he  does  not 
know  himself  what  he  is  like.  He  stands 
in  need  of  careful  piloting.  If  he  has  been 
confirmed  at  the  age  say  of  ten  or  twelve, 
at  an  age  when  he  can  still  believe  what  he 
is  told,  and  has  given  himself  simply  and 
whole-heartedly  to  God  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
guide  and  strengthen  him,  and  if  he  has 
been  acquiring  the  spiritual  habit  of  regular 
communion,  believing  that  our  Lord  comes 
to  take  up  His  abode  in  him  and  feed  him 
continually  with  His  perfect  Life,  then  he 
has  the  best  of  all  chances  of  weathering 
the  stormy  period  successfully,  carrying  an 
accumulating  cargo  of  rich  spiritual  experi¬ 
ence,  to  traffic  in  the  greater  world-market 
of  manhood.  And  he  will  need  this  wealth 
of  spiritual  experience,  or  run  great  risk  of 
bankruptcy.  For  he  is  assailed  on  all  sides 
with  temptations  to  put  his  trust  not  in 
the  spirit  but  in  the  intellect  or  the  flesh. 
The  illusion  of  self-determination  floats  like 
a  mirage  in  the  world’s  glare  before  his 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  91 


eyes,  and  he  is  apt  to  waste  his  spiritual 
substance  in  its  pursuit.  He  may  fall  into 
the  common  but  deadly  mistake  of  com¬ 
promise,  and  while  he  attempts  to  worship 
God  on  Sunday,  bow  in  the  temple  of 
Mammon  or  of  some  other  false  diety 
through  the  week.  He  may  take  pride 
in  his  intellectual  freedom  and  summon 
the  whole  universe,  God  included,  to 
judgment  before  the  throne  of  his  reason, 
only  to  find,  by  the  inexorable  logic  of 
his  reason,  that  unless  he  takes  some¬ 
thing  for  granted  that  he  cannot  prove 
the  whole  universe  evaporates  on  analysis 
to  nothing,  and  he  is  left  in  utter  lone¬ 
liness,  only  saved  from  non-existence  by 
the  fact  that  he  cannot  help  taking  his 
own  existence  as  an  actual  fact.  The  out¬ 
ward  world  is  a  world  of  evanescent  appear¬ 
ance,  and  he  must  either  annihilate  it  in 
despair,  or  consent  to  believe  that  there 
is  an  inner  meaning  behind  the  outward 
show  of  things.  Or  he  may  think  that 
freedom  consists  in  the  unfettered  expression 
of  his  animal  nature,  only  to  find  that  the 
flesh,  unless  ruled  by  the  spirit,  is  a  burden 
and  a  bondage  too  heavy  to  bear.  If  he 
is  not  to  make  shipwreck  of  his  life  he  must 


92 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


come  to  some  belief  in  the  Divine  Spirit; 
he  must  remember  when  he  comes  to  him¬ 
self  that  he  has  a  Father,  and  drag,  with 
whatever  struggle,  his  weary  steps  home¬ 
ward,  for  elsewhere  there  is  no  rest. 

Most  of  us,  by  one  path  or  another, 
arrive  at  a  stage  when  we  do  believe  in 
God,  but  are  conscious  that  our  faith  is 
weaker  than  it  should  be.  We  have  gained 
a  wise  distrust  in  our  own  infallibility,  we 
see  the  hollowness  of  the  world’s  attrac¬ 
tions,  and  we  refuse  to  be  the  slaves  of 
our  bodies.  Yet  pride,  self-indulgence,  and 
anxiety  about  money  or  appearance  have 
a  larger  voice  in  our  inner  counsels  than 
we  approve.  They  should  be  silent,  in 
fact,  before  the  voice  of  God,  if  we  really 
trusted  Him  as  we  ought.  So  we  are 
dissatisfied  and  uncomfortable.  But  this  is 
a  healthy  and  hopeful  dissatisfaction  which 
will  impel  us  to  seek  a  solution  along  the 
only  possible  way  of  hope,  viz.  to  trust 
God  more.  We  are  led  to  the  disciples’ 
prayer :  “  Lord,  increase  our  faith.”  Our 

Lord’s  answer  to  that  prayer  is  suggestive. 
He  did  not  turn,  lay  His  hands  on  them 
and  say  :  “  Receive  the  gift  of  faith.”  He 
told  them  that  if  they  cultivated  the  tiny 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  93 


seed-like  gift  of  faith  which  they  had,  it 
would  greatly  grow.  Under  His  tuition, 
these  apostles,  who  were  to  astonish  and 
win  the  world  by  their  faithfulness,  were 
set  to  simple  tasks  of  healing  the  sick.  The 
disciple  must  not  leave  his  little  faith,  tied 
in  a  napkin,  to  lie  in  idleness  because  it  is 
small.  He  must  use  it,  for  by  use  it  will 
grow. 

But  how  are  we  to  cultivate  and  exer¬ 
cise  our  faith  ?  We  are  apt  to  be  afraid 
of  using  it,  lest  it  prove  too  weak  and 
we  fail.  That  is  to  say,  fear  paralyses 
faith.  Then  we  hear  our  Lord  say : 
“  Fear  not,  only  believe.”  He  takes  us 
by  the  hand,  and  when  we  look  at 
Him,  we  forget  our  fear.  So  first  we  must 
develop  our  confidence  in  His  promise : 
“  I  am  with  you  always.”  For  it  was  the 
experience  of  knowing  Christ’s  presence 
still  with  them  after  His  resurrection 
that  changed  the  disciples’  weakness  into 
strength. 

At  this  point  the  psychologist  comes  to 
our  assistance,  for  by  simple  experiments 
he  shows  us  not  only  that  faith  can  initiate 
movements  within  the  physical  body,  but 
also  how  faith  may  be  made  active  by 


94 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


auto-suggestion.  Such  a  simple  thing  as 
Chevreul’s  pendulum  ^  will  exemplify  this 
fact.  The  pendulum  swings  in  whatever 
direction  the  holder  expects.  If  he  expects 
no  movement,  the  pendulum  remains  still. 
If  he  expects  a  side-to-side  swing,  that 
swing  follows.  If  he  expects  a  change  of 
direction,  the  expected  change  takes  place. 
And  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
will  once  the  holder  has  consented  by  his 
will  to  try  the  experiment.  It  is  simply 
the  result  of  imagination.  Imagination  is  a 
word  with  a  bad  reputation,  but  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  there  is  a 
true  use  of  imagination,  which  if  cultivated 
will  guard  us  against  false  images.  Imagina¬ 
tion  is  simply  the  power  to  make  mental 
pictures.  In  the  case  of  the  pendulum, 
while  I  make  no  conscious  movement,  I 
make  a  mental  picture  of  some  definite 

^  This  consists  of  a  coin  or  ring  suspended  by  a  thread 
about  nine  inches  long  from  the  end  of  a  stick  of  similar 
length.  Hold  this  over  a  sheet  of  paper  on  which  a  circle 
has  been  drawn,  with  two  diameters  intersecting  at  right 
angles,  so  that  the  coin  comes  between  the  eye  and  the 
centre  of  the  circle.  If  one  eye  is  closed  a  sharper  definition 
is  obtained.  Holding  the  hand  still,  imagine  this  coin 
swinging  along  one  of  the  diameters,  or  round  the  circum¬ 
ference,  and  it  will  do  so. 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  95 


movement  of  the  pendulum,  and  at  once, 
without  my  knowing  anything  about  it, 
the  whole  nervous  and  muscular  mechanism 
necessary  to  carry  that  movement  into 
effect  is  set  to  work.  Unconscious  muscular 
activity,  appropriate  to  a  given  end,  is  set 
in  motion  as  the  result  of  a  thought.  Now 
when  we  realise  that  every  organ  and  every 
blood-vessel  in  the  body  is  regulated  by 
the  action  of  muscle-fibres  and  nerves  we 
begin  to  see  how  thought  can  operate  on 
the  body.  We  all  know  how  a  thought 
of  shame  or  self-consciousness  may  dilate 
the  tiny  blood-vessels  in  the  skin  of  the 
face,  how  sudden  fear  may  contract  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  alter  the  beating  of 
the  heart,  and  paralyse  the  muscles  of  the 
limbs  so  that  the  terrified  person  may  stand 
rooted  to  the  ground;  or  again,  how  the 
thought  of  food  may  cause  active  secretion 
of  the  digestive  juices  of  a  hungry  man,  and 
so  forth.  Thought,  especially  when  asso¬ 
ciated  with  some  emotion,  alters  the  working 
of  the  body.  And  again,  to  make  the 
thought  physically  effective,  one  merely  has 
to  repeat  it  quietly  and  without  effort  to 
oneself.  It  fills  the  subconscious  mind  and 


96 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


thereafter  works  out  its  results.  This  is  the 
rationale  of  the  remarkable  cures,  not  merely 
of  functional,  but  also  of  organic  disease, 
wrought  by  the  New  School  of  Applied 
Psychology  at  Nancy. 

But  though  the  systematic  and  scientific 
use  of  auto-suggestion  for  the  cure  of  bodily 
ailments  is  a  new  thing,  the  same  principle 
has  always  been  used  in  the  Church,  which 
is  always  bringing  out  of  its  treasures  things 
new  and  old,  for  the  development,  not 
merely  of  a  healthy  body  and  a  happy 
mind,  but  of  that  true  relation  to  God 
wherein  the  real  health  of  a  person  consists. 

The  old,  old  practice  of  meditation,  what 
is  it  but  the  occupation  of  the  mind  with 
some  truth  of  God’s  revealing  as  we  wait 
on  the  Holy  Spirit  to  guide  our  thoughts  ? 
Meditation  has  been  made,  I  think,  un¬ 
necessarily  difficult  by  elaborate  descriptions 
and  dissections  into  its  component  parts. 
But  really  it  is  just  this,  the  habit  of 
listening  while  God  tells  you  something. 
Take,  for  example,  one  of  the  promises  of 
Jesus  Christ :  “I  am  with  you  always.” 
Dwell  on  it,  repeat  it  quietly  to  yourself. 
Its  meaning  becomes  fuller  and  fuller,  and 
its  implications  become  clearer.  Fear  and 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  97 


anxiety  must  disappear,  because  Christ  and 
I  together  must  be  sufficient  to  meet  any 
situation.  As  anxiety  goes,  peace  enters, 
and  true  prayer  becomes  possible.  The 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  obedience  melt, 
and  the  next  duty  becomes  plain.  Tempta¬ 
tions  lose  their  attraction  when  He  is 
realised  as  present,  and  it  becomes  easier 
to  walk  in  the  Spirit.  Out  of  meditation 
we  learn  to  keep  Christ  in  the  centre  of 
every  situation,  and  in  the  innermost  shrine 
of  our  heart.  Holy  Communion  becomes  a 
reality.  He  comes  to  us  as  He  promised,  and 
is  still  in  us  as  we  go  away.  If  our  Com¬ 
munions  are  followed  by  a  meditation  at 
home  upon  the  fact  of  Christ  in  us,  faith  is 
bound  to  develop,  and  power  of  accomplish¬ 
ment  will  increase. 

Our  Lord  lays  great  stress  on  the  necessity 
of  faith  for  the  healing  of  the  body.  His 
question,  asked  or  implied,  was  always : 
“  Dost  thou  believe  that  I  am  able  to  do 
this  thing  ?  ”  and  His  answer  to  the  prayer 
for  healing  was :  ‘‘  According  as  thou  hast 
believed,  so  be  it  done  unto  thee.”  When 
we  pray  for  health  we  are  to  believe  that 
the  divine  process  of  healing  is  actually 
at  work  within  us,  that  the  blood-forming 
N 

•t 


98 


HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


organs  are  doing  their  work  and  producing 
those  elements  which  the  blood  requires 
for  combating  the  disease  and  repairing  the 
damaged  tissues,  that  the  glands  are  pro¬ 
ducing  those  mysterious  secretions  by  which 
the  balance  of  health  is  adjusted  and 
maintained,  that  the  blood-stream  is  carrying 
to  every  part  the  nourishment  and  vitality 
which  it  requires,  and  that  the  whole 
process  is  being  regulated  by  the  central 
nervous  system,  which  gains  its  inspira¬ 
tion  from  the  mind  at  rest  and  confident 
in  God.  As  by  faith  one  opens  one’s 
soul  to  the  incoming  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  the  peace  of  God  takes  possession 
of  the  whole  organism,  and  the  charac¬ 
teristics  of  the  Holy  Spirit’s  working  be¬ 
come  apparent,  quietness,  order,  and  in¬ 
creasing  vitahty.  Thus  to  meditate  on 
the  Holy  Spirit  within  us,  quietly  working 
to  restore  harmony  and  build  up  life, 
is  a  most  practical  and  valuable  exercise 
of  faith. 

As  faith  grows,  worry  must  disappear. 
We  are  frequently  told  that  worry,  far 
more  than  hard  work,  is  the  cause  of 
breakdown.  Worry  is  practically  a  vote 
of  want  of  confidence  in  God,  and  there- 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FAITH  99 


fore  cannot  continue  to  exist  in  the  same 
mind  with  faith.  Faith  brings  peace  of 
mind  in  its  train,  with  power  to  rest,  and 
the  quiet,  confident  waiting  upon  the  Lord 
which  brings  renewal  of  strength. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


PENITENCE 

Keeping  in  mind  that  the  three  things  neces¬ 
sary  for  a  real  approach  to  God,  penitence, 
faith,  and  love,  do  not  represent  simply 
human  efforts,  but  are  themselves  divine  gifts 
to  be  had  for  the  asking,  which  grow  as  we 
acquire  the  habit  of  dependence  upon  God, 
we  thought  first  of  the  cultivation  of  faith. 
And  we  saw  how  teachers  of  the  new  psy¬ 
chology,  approaching  the  problems  of  human 
life  from  the  scientific  point  of  view,  and 
demonstrating  the  practical  value  of  reflective 
auto-suggestion,  are  testifying  to  the  import¬ 
ance  of  the  Christian  practice  of  meditation 
and  contemplation.  Faith  is  built  up  in  the 
times  of  quiet  waiting  upon  God,  and  as  con¬ 
fidence  grows,  the  internal  strain  and  tension, 
the  fightings  and  fears  within,  give  place  to  a 
peace  of  mind,  which  tends  to  health  of  body 
and  enables  the  believer  greatly  to  increase 
the  output  of  effective  service. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  subject  of 
100 


PENITENCE 


101 


penitence.  Like  the  raw  material  out  of 
which  faith  is  made,  the  beginnings  of 
a  capacity  for  penitence  are  of  universal 
distribution  among  mankind.  Even  the 
dog,  which  has  associated  on  intimate  terms 
with  his  master,  learns  to  know  his 
master’s  will  and  even  without  punish¬ 
ment  shows  signs  of  sorrow  when  he 
deserves  to  be  out  of  favour.  The  asso¬ 
ciation  with  a  higher  being,  and  a  know¬ 
ledge  that  that  higher  being  trusts  him 
and  expects  something  of  him,  develop 
in  the  dog  something  that  looks  akin 
to  conscience.  And  when  you  talk  to 
the  human  child  about  conscience,  the 
voice  which  seems  to  speak  inside  him 
and  tells  him  what  he  ought  and  ought 
not  to  do,  the  child  always  nods  an  under¬ 
standing  head.  God-consciousness  implies  the 
sense  of  responsibility  which  is  essential 
to  penitence.  The  revelation  of  God  which 
Jesus  Christ  has  given  us  by  His  Incarna¬ 
tion,  as  it  clears  our  vision  both  as  to 
the  nature  and  character  of  Godhead, 
and  the  nature  and  character  of  man¬ 
hood,  while  it  immeasurably  enlarges  our 
ability  to  trust  and  to  love,  also  corre¬ 
spondingly  increases  our  capacity  for  peni- 


102  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


tence.  For  Bethlehem  and  Calvary,  the 
Empty  Tomb  and  the  Ascension,  and  the 
promise,  fulfilled  first  at  Pentecost,  and 
subsequently  at  every  Confirmation,  have 
put  a  new  order  of  existence,  a  new 
relationship  to  the  Most  High,  and  a 
new  hope  of  life,  eternal  and  incorruptible, 
within  our  reach. 

Bethlehem  teaches  us,  as  nothing  else 
in  history  can,  that  human  nature  is  essen¬ 
tially  pure  and  altogether  good,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  capable  of  being  occupied  by  the 
all-holy  God ;  and  further,  that  it  has 
been  in  fact  taken  into  inseparable  union 
with  Him.  The  incarnate  life  of  Jesus 
shows  us,  on  the  plane  of  history,  on  the 
ordinary  level  of  man’s  daily  transactions, 
what  humanity  can  accomplish  when  it 
is  held  in  willing  subjection  to  the  Will 
of  God,  and  is  upheld  by  an  unbroken 
habit  of  reliance  upon  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Christ’s  works  were  wrought  by  Him  in 
His  capacity  as  the  Son  of  Man  conscious 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  in  Him,  as 
man  walking  on  earth  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven.  After  a  truly  human  life, 
perfect  to  its  smallest  detail  by  the  fact 
of  the  Divine  possession,  Jesus  Christ  on 


PENITENCE 


103 


Calvary  showed  to  what  extreme  the  love 
of  God  goes.  That  a  man  will  die  for 
his  friends  is  the  final  proof  of  his  love ; 
but  that  Jesus  was  willing  not  only  to 
sacrifice  His  life,  but  to  bear  shame  and 
derision,  agony  of  mind  and  slow  torture 
of  body,  to  be  hounded  to  crucifixion 
as  one  who  had  blasphemed  his  Father’s 
honour,  and  apparently  to  leave  the 
victory  in  His  enemies’  hands ;  all  that 
dehberate  willingness  to  bear  the  worst 
dishonour  that  could  be  heaped  upon 

Him,  although  He  had  the  power  to 
overawe  and  convince  and  terrify  them 
by  coming  down  from  the  Cross  at  will, 
and  destroy  them  with  an  avenging  army 
of  angels — how  could  the  patient,  long- 

suffering  of  divine  love  further  demon¬ 
strate  itself  ?  The  fact  that  Jesus  died 

for  His  enemies,  knowing  that  the  per¬ 
fection  of  His  love  would  have  power 

to  convert  them  into  friends,  and  draw 
rebellious  mankind  into  the  willing  sur¬ 
render  of  penitence,  reveals  the  Cross 

as  the  symbol  of  conquering  love,  and 

the  beacon  of  hope.  For  we,  who  still 
love  our  own  way  too  much,  and  God’s 

way  too  little,  may  learn  from  the  Cross 


104  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


that  Christ’s  power  will  wean  us  entirely 
from  the  love  of  lower  things,  and  en¬ 
able  us  to  render  the  willing  obedience 
of  God’s  children.  Further,  in  addition  to 
the  forbearance  of  God’s  love,  and  its 
converting  power,  our  Lord  on  the  Cross 
shows  by  contrast  the  hideousness  of 
selfishness  and  sin,  for  God  is  not  a  mere 
Absolute,  but  a  Father ;  and  the  Cross 
gives  a  human  measurement  of  the  grief 
that  God  feels  for  man’s  sin,  and  of  His 
yearning  for  man’s  restoration.  We  can¬ 
not  fathom  the  depths  of  the  Divine 
nature,  nor  understand  how  God  can 
suffer.  But  Jesus  Christ,  both  in  His 
teaching  (cp.  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son)  and  on  the  Cross,  proves  that  God 
does  care,  even  for  His  least  child ;  and 
caring,  patiently  contrives  a  way  by  which 
His  self-banished  child  may  be  restored 
to  Him. 

In  His  Resurrection-Body  Christ  re¬ 
vealed  the  truth  that  human  nature  com¬ 
pletely  united  to  God  cannot  be  over¬ 
come  by  death,  but  rises  to  heights 
where  what  we  call  the  laws  of  nature 
cease  to  apply.  And  in  His  Ascension 
He  showed  the  destiny  which  God  has 


PENITENCE 


105 


prepared  for  mankind,  to  lift  man  up 
into  the  glory  of  the  realised  presence  of 
the  Father,  and  into  that  perfect  fellow¬ 
ship  of  the  sons  of  God,  where  love  is 
supreme  and  evil  has  no  place.  Into 
that  state  we  have  no  means  of  pene¬ 
trating  by  human  thought,  except  the 
visions  of  a  St  John  or  a  St  Paul,  who 
see  things  that  may  not  be  uttered,  and 
which  human  language  can  hardly  begin 
to  suggest. 

Our  Lord,  then,  in  His  incarnate  Life, 
wherein  He  has  traversed  the  whole  path 
of  evolution  from  the  dust  of  the  earth 
to  the  Right  Hand  of  the  Father,  shows 
us  God’s  care  for  man,  God’s  destiny  for 
man,  God’s  grief  when  man  turns  aside 
from  the  way  of  life,  God’s  plan  for  man’s 
restoration  to  eternal  life,  and  finally,  the 
power  by  which  that  plan  is  to  be  carried 
into  effect.  For  our  Lord’s  last  provision 
was  the  legacy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  same 
Spirit  by  whose  operation  He  had  become 
incarnate,  by  whose  power  He  had  done 
all  things  and  endured  all  things,  by  whose 
power  He  had  raised  His  human  nature 
from  the  tomb.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  to 
come  and  carry  to  every  individual  among 
0 


106  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


mankind,  the  gifts  of  eternal  life  that  Christ 
had  brought  into  humanity  as  a  whole  by 
His  Incarnation  :  “  He  shall  take  of  Mine^ 
and  shall  show  it  unto  you.”  The  Holy 
Spirit  came  upon  the  Church  at  Pentecost, 
and  ever  since,  abiding  in  the  Church  for 
ever,  and  so  making  it  Christ’s  Body,  the 
residence  of  His  Spirit,  He  has  called  the 
children  of  men,  one  by  one,  into  the 
membership  of  that  Body  in  Baptism ;  one 
by  one  He  has  equipped  them  with  powers 
for  functioning  in  Christ’s  Body  through 
the  Laying-on  of  Hands ;  one  by  one  He 
builds  up  the  members  through  the  various 
channels  by  which  His  gifts  are  ministered ; 
to  each  one  He  speaks  in  his  inner  con¬ 
science,  and  all  true  prayer  is  His  operation 
in  the  soul. 

Thus  through  the  Incarnation,  and  the 
living  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Christ’s 
Body  the  Church,  from  Pentecost  till  now, 
there  is  put  within  our  reach  everything 
that  we  need  for  union  with  Jesus  Christ, 
for  deliverance  from  all  evil,  for  growth  in 
Christ  into  perfect  sonship,  and  for  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  our  eternal  inheritance,  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  communion  of  saints  in  the 
light  of  the  presence  of  God. 


PENITENCE 


107 


In  this  revelation  we  are  given  motives  for 
penitence  which  the  pagan  misses.  For  to 
the  Christian  human  destiny  is  more  glorious 
than  for  anyone  else.  Nothing  short  of  per¬ 
fect  fellowship  with  God  is  our  destiny,  and 
we  know  that  the  practical  working  out 
of  that  destiny  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  quietly  but  all-powerfully  working  in 
the  souls  of  men.  Therefore  when  we  seek 
to  deepen  that  penitence,  which  is  essential 
to  our  enjoyment  of  communion  with  God, 
our  first  act  is  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  commit  ourselves  entirely 
to  His  direction. 

As  He  guides  us  to  ponder  over  our 
relation  to  the  Father,  in  the  light  which 
shines  through  the  Incarnation,  He  shows 
us  our  life  against  the  background  of  God’s 
love  and  intention  for  us.  He  shows  us 
how  different  we  should  have  been  had 
we  allowed  God  to  have  His  way  with  us, 
and  we  see  that  our  failures  are  not  merely 
our  own  loss,  but  they  are  loss  to  the  whole 
of  Christ’s  Body,  for  all  the  members  are 
affected  by  each  one,  and  that  they  are 
loss  in  the  sight  of  God.  In  proportion 
as  we  reaUse  that  our  selfish  indulgences 
and  sins  in  thought,  word,  and  act,  and 


108  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


omission,  wound  Him  Who  loves  us,  and 
that  they  impair  our  power  to  respond 
to  His  love,  so  far  there  grows  in  us 
the  gift  of  true  contrition.  So  we  pray 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  teach  us  contrition  by 
deepening  our  sense  of  God’s  wounded  love. 
Our  hearts  must  respond  by  true  sorrow 
for  sin  as  we  realise  that  God  is  not  a 
task  master,  nor  a  detective,  nor  even  only 
a  judge,  but  above  all  a  Father  concerned 
in  all  that  happens  to  us. 

But  what  have  we  to  be  sorry  for  ?  The 
selfish  heart  tends  to  suppress  the  memory 
of  its  misdeeds,  they  become  slurred  over 
by  habit,  and  are  not  easy  always  to  recall. 
Here  again  we  need  the  help  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  If  we  genuinely  want  to  be  rid  of 
our  sins  and  self-love,  and  ask  Him  to 
probe  our  wounds  to  their  depth.  He  will 
enable  us  to  recall  the  significant  facts  of 
the  past  days,  and  bring  into  light  those 
things  of  which  we  ought  to  be  ashamed. 
Self-examination  is  a  tedious  process  from 
which  the  slothful  soul  shrinks.  Yet  it 
is  essential  to  penitence,  and  we  must  go 
through  with  it,  using  for  our  standard 
some  such  expression  of  God’s  law  as 
the  Ten  Commandments  read  spiritually,  or 


PENITENCE 


109 


1  Cor.  xiii.,  or  the  catalogue  of  the  fruits 
of  the  Spirit  and  the  works  of  the  flesh 
given  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  or 
the  duty  to  God  and  our  neighbour  in  the 
Catechism. 

It  is  wise  to  write  down  on  paper,  for 
the  sake  of  definiteness,  the  sins  and  failures 
of  which  we  accuse  ourselves,  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  convicts  our  conscience  on  one  point 
after  another.  Especially  useful  is  it  to 
distinguish  the  earliest  sin  we  can  remember, 
for  though  it  may  be  in  itself  small,  its 
effects  are  not  small  if  it  has  remained 
in  memory  all  this  time,  and  it  may  pro¬ 
vide  the  key  to  a  sinful  tendency.  Also 
there  may  stand  out  one  particular  word  or 
deed  of  which  we  are  particularly  ashamed, 
our  worst  sin.  How  came  we  to  be  so 
far  from  our  true  selves  that  we  permitted 
that  to  happen  ?  And  then  there  will  show 
itself  the  sin  to  which  we  are  most 
often  tempted,  and  which  has  been  the 
cause  of  our  most  frequent  failures,  our 
besetting  sin.  And  if  we  set  before  us  a 
positive  standard  of  duty,  we  shall  not  fail 
to  note  the  sins  of  omission,  which  may  be 
the  gravest  of  all. 

Sefl-examination  enables  us  to  see  our- 


110  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


selves  more  truly,  and  gives  us  the  material 
for  our  contrition.  We  know  now  that  in 
this  respect  and  in  that  we  have  failed 
God  our  Father,  and  grieved  His  love, 
and  deserve  punishment.  We  see  that  the 
outward  sufferings  of  our  lives  are  not 
God’s  design,  but  are  the  inevitable  result 
of  our  own  sins,  or  the  sins  of  others. 
Misery  is  not  God’s  intention,  but  results 
from  man’s  insistence  on  his  own  way. 
This  makes  sin  still  more  hateful.  But 
the  Holy  Spirit,  in  deepening  contrition, 
takes  vengeance  as  God  alone  can,  not 
felling  us  with  condemnation,  but  arousing 
us  to  a  shame  for  the  purpose  of  deliver¬ 
ance.  God’s  vengeance  is  remedial,  not 
destructive.  For  contrition  never  drives  us 
away  from  God  to  destruction,  but  draws 
us  out  of  the  far  country,  to  come  home 
and  make  a  clean  breast  to  the  Father. 

The  next  step,  confession,  making  a 
clean  breast  to  God,  is  hateful  to  the  sinner 
until  he  is  contrite.  But  when  he  is  really 
sorry  for  sin,  nothing  will  satisfy  him  until 
he  has  confessed.  Honour  compels  him  to 
apologise,  and  admit  his  fault.  The  Holy 
Spirit  will  stir  in  him  the  spirit  of  sonship, 
and  make  the  honour  of  that  sonship  tell. 


PENITENCE  111 

Courage  will  overcome  cowardice,  and  the 
sinner  makes  his  confession. 

It  is  one  of  the  tragedies  of  history 
that,  owing  to  corruptions  in  the  Church 
of  old  days,  thousands  of  souls  have  been 
deprived  of  that  access  to  realised  forgive¬ 
ness  which  our  Lord  committed  to  His 
Church  to  minister.  It  is  strange  that 
many  who  recognise  the  priest  as  the 
steward  of  God’s  mysteries,  in  the  ministry 
of  Baptism  and  of  Holy  Communion,  who 
receive  his  ministry  of  God’s  word  in 
preaching,  and  his  ministry  of  God’s  bless¬ 
ing  in  Holy  Matrimony,  yet  cannot  see 
that  the  Absolution  pronounced  by  God’s 
appointed  minister  is  a  conveyance  of  God’s 
pardon.  Yet  this  gift  of  God’s  pardon  is 
vital  to  the  peace  of  the  soul.  Jesus  died 
that  God’s  forgiveness  might  be  brought 
to  man,  and  together  with  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  our  Lord  gave  this  definite 
commission  to  His  Ministry :  “  Whoseso¬ 

ever  sins  ye  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  them  ; 
and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained.”  Without  the  assurance  of  God’s 
pardon  man’s  soul  languishes ;  and  know¬ 
ing  that,  our  Saviour  commanded  His 
Church  to  carry  that  forgiveness,  in  the 


112  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Thus,  when  the 
apostolic  hands  are  laid  upon  the  head  of 
every  candidate  for  priesthood,  the  words  are 
solemnly  said :  “  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  the  office  and  work  of  a  priest  in 
the  Church  of  God,  now  committed  unto  thee 
by  the  Laying-on  of  our  hands.  Whose 
sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  forgiven ; 
and  whose  sins  thou  dost  retain,  they  are 
retained ;  and  be  thou  a  faithful  dispenser 
of  the  word  of  God  and  of  His  sacraments, 
in  the  Name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Amen.” 

The  responsibility  of  such  a  ministry  is 
great,  and  no  priest  may  throw  such  a 
gift  broadcast.  He  has  to  act,  as  Christ’s 
minister,  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  and 
judge  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  whether  the 
sinner  is  truly  repentant.  In  hearing  his 
confession  the  priest  has  the  materials  for 
his  judgment  set  before  him  and  is  enabled 
to  see  what  the  penitent’s  attitude  is.  He 
can  judge  if  the  sorrow  is  genuine,  he  can 
throw  light  on  the  situation  that  enables 
the  penitent  to  see  things  more  clearly. 
He  can  give  counsel  where  it  is  needed, 
but  above  all,  when  satisfied  of  the  genuine¬ 
ness  of  the  repentance,  he  can  give  in  the 


PENITENCE 


113 


Spirit  of  God,  as  Christ’s  appointed  messenger, 
the  sure  message  of  God’s  free  and  com¬ 
plete  pardon  that  sets  the  sinner  free 
from  all  doubt,  despondency,  and  fear.  The 
penitent  can  go  forth,  knowing  most  surely 
that,  while  he  has  done  his  best  to  repent, 
God  has  accepted  his  contrition  and  con¬ 
fession,  and  has  set  him  free  both  from  the 
guilt  and  from  the  power  of  all  his  past 
sin.  Inasmuch  as  he  could  never  make 
up  for  the  past,  Christ  has  made  up  for 
him.  God  accepts  him,  not  for  what  he 
has  been,  but  for  what  he  may  become 
now  that  by  penitence  he  has  come  home 
again.  And  the  possibility  is  opened  to 
him  of  living  again  in  the  grace  of  God. 
In  his  confession  the  penitent  promises 
amendment  and  satisfaction.  He  promises, 
i.^.,  to  make  up  as  far  as  in  him  lies  for 
any  wrong  he  has  done,  and  he  takes  the 
great  promise  of  amendment  on  his  lips, 
realising  his  inability  to  keep  it  in  his  own 
strength.  Only  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  can  he  keep  it,  but  that  grace  is 
given  him  in  absolution,  and  he  goes  out 
certain  that  Divine  power  is  given  to  him 
to  live  faithful  to  Christ.  This  point  needs 
continual  emphasising.  We  are  far  too  much 

p 


114  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


held  in  fear  of  sin,  because  we  fail  to  dwell 
on  our  source  of  strength.  “  Walk  in  the 
Spirit,”  says  St  Paul,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  enable  us  so  to  do  if  we  only  trust 
Him  fully.  When  we  accuse  ourselves  in 
confession  we  must  not  accuse  God  of  not 
helping  us.  “I  had  the  omnipotence  of  grace 
to  conquer  if  I  chose.”  In  leaving  the 
Confessional  and  the  Altar-rail,  and  in  rising 
from  our  knees  after  prayer,  we  should  know 
that  we  have  the  omnipotence  of  grace  to 
conquer  all  our  difficulties  and  temptations. 
If  we  believe  in  God’s  faithfulness  we  shall 
be  rid  of  fear.  God  means  to  free  us 
altogether  from  sin,  and  give  us  power  to 
live  as  citizens  of  heaven.  But  we  fail 
as  often  as  we  forget.  Therefore  we  have 
to  renew  our  penitence,  and  confess  again, 
and  be  restored  afresh.  But  with  each 
effort  our  self-love  and  self-sufficiency  are 
more  deeply  wounded  to  the  death,  and 

the  love  of  God  and  the  appreciation  of 
His  sufficiency  grow  more  strong,  till  self 
is  dead  and  God  is  all.  Then  we  have 

fully  entered  into  our  heritage. 

As  a  means  of  restoration  to  health 
penitence  is  of  the  utmost  value.  The 

confession  of  sins  is  like  the  opening  of 


PENITENCE 


115 


an  abscess.  The  evil  things  which  were 
before  festering  unseen,  and  causing  a  fever 
in  the  soul,  are  let  out  and  removed.  The 
wound  is  dressed  and  healing  begins.  The 
psycho-analysts  are  telling  how  much  damage 
results  in  the  nervous  system  from  buried 
“  complexes  ”  and  forgotten  tendencies  of 
the  mind  which  have  been  suppressed  but 
which,  without  our  knowing  it,  are  always 
seeking  a  way  to  express  themselves.  The 
subconscious  mental  conflict  which  results 
uses  up  energy  and  causes  neurasthenia* 
But  when  these  “  complexes  ”  are  brought 
to  light  and  resolved,  the  conflict  ends  and 
the  mental  energy  is  set  free  for  its  proper 
work.  Although  conscious  penitence  and 
confession  cannot  reach  so  far  back  as 
psycho-analysis,  yet  the  penitent  is  to  be 
assured,  when  he  has  made  the  best  con¬ 
fession  he  can,  that  the  absolution  extends 
to  sins  forgotten  as  well  as  those  remembered, 
and  that  he  is  restored  to  perfect  spiritual 
health.  The  assurance  of  divine  pardon 
is  an  unspeakable  relief,  and  after  leaving 
the  confessional  the  penitent  will  do  well 
to  sit  in  thankfulness  and  meditate  quietly 
on  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  him, 
cleansing  him  from  every  trace  and  remnant 


116  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


of  sinful  desire,  and  leaving  him  spotless 
and  pure.  The  relief  from  the  burden  of 
sin  is  of  unspeakable  value  both  for  peace  of 
mind  and  for  the  healing  of  the  body,  for 
it  sets  the  recuperative  power  free  to  work 
unburdened. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  effect  of  absolu¬ 
tion  on  health,  I  may  cite  the  experience 
of  a  young  priest,  who  found  in  a  hospital 
ward  a  man  who  had  lost  his  arm  in  a 
saw-mill.  After  a  time  the  man’s  condition 
grew  worse,  and  the  nurse  told  the  priest 
that  they  had  little  hope  for  him  and  were 
sending  for  his  relatives.  The  priest  spoke 
to  the  man  and  said :  “I  notice  you  have 
been  looking  rather  sad.  Is  it  your  illness, 
or  is  there  something  on  your  mind  ?  ” 
“  There’s  something  on  my  mind,  sir,”  said 
the  patient,  and  proceeded  to  tell  his  trouble. 
The  priest  said :  “  This  is  a  matter  in  which 
I  can  help  you,  not  merely  as  a  friend, 
but  as  a  minister  of  Christ.”  Then  he  in¬ 
structed  him  how  to  prepare  his  confession, 
and  promised  to  return  that  night  and 
hear  it.  That  evening  the  nurse  put  screens 
round  his  bed,  the  patient  made  his  con¬ 
fession  and  received  absolution,  and  from 
that  moment  he  began  to  recover. 


CHAPTER  IX 


CHARITY 

We  have  already  seen  that  Faith,  Peni¬ 
tence,  and  Charity  are  not  simply  human 
accomplishments,  but  divine  gifts  to  the 
hungry  soul.  Nor  are  they  gifts  which 
accomphsh  their  purpose  simply  by  divine 
operation ;  they  require  man’s  consent  and 
co-operation,  man’s  appetite  in  seeking,  and 
man’s  cultivation  of  the  gift  when  received. 
Like  all  the  gifts  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
they  are  given  as  a  seed.  No  possible  effort 
of  the  soil  can  make  the  seed,  though  it 
may  have  all  the  raw  materials  out  of  which 
the  seed  is  made.  The  soil  can  only  pre¬ 
pare  to  receive  the  seed,  and  once  it  is 
received  the  living  soil  and  the  living  seed 
work  together  to  produce  the  fruit. 

It  is  true  of  Charity,  as  of  Faith  and 
Penitence,  that  its  raw  materials  are  uni¬ 
versally  present  in  the  soil  of  our  human 
nature.  Further,  even  in  the  animal 
kingdom  we  may  trace  its  rudiments,  for 

117 


118  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


example  in  the  instinct  of  the  mother  to 
sacrifice  her  life  for  her  young,  in  the  dog 
which  will  lie  down  and  die  beside  its 
master’s  grave,  or  in  the  case  of  the  battery- 
mule  which,  on  its  companion’s  death  during 
the  war,  refused  to  eat  or  drink  for  three 
days  till  at  last  it  had  to  be  shot.  The 
natural  world  is  more  noble  than  we  are 
apt  to  believe ;  we  have  tended  to  decry 
the  animal  kingdom  in  contrast  with 
humanity,  but  we  have  been  taught  now 
to  see  that  all  the  elements  of  humanity 
are  present  implicitly  in  the  lower  creation 
out  of  which  human  nature  has  emerged. 
Nor  is  this  to  be  regarded  as  demeaning 
to  humanity,  for  all  creatures  are  the  work 
of  God.  But  when,  by  the  working  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  creation  at  last  emerged 
on  to  the  plane  of  humanity,  there  was 
prepared  a  creature  conscious  of  God, 
capable  of  answering  His  love  as  a  child 
responds  to  his  father  and  mother,  in 
freedom.  The  tragedy  came  when  man 
abused  his  freedom  by  choosing  evil  rather 
than  good ;  and  the  history  of  mankind 
has  been  the  history  of  the  prodigal  son, 
abusing  his  Father’s  gifts,  spurning  his 
Father’s  love  and  fellowship,  working  out 


CHARITY 


119 


his  own  misery  by  continually  preferring 
his  own  way,  till  at  last  he  comes  to 
himself,  remembers  his  true  home,  and 
makes  bold  to  throw  himself  on  his  Father’s 
compassion.  The  patience  of  the  Father’s 
love  has  drawn  him  out  of  death  into  life 
again. 

In  ourselves  we  feel  that  we  have  some¬ 
thing  of  the  family-likeness  of  God,  the 

generous  impulse,  the  preference  of  friend¬ 
ship  to  enmity,  the  dislike  of  selfishness 

and  cruelty,  the  contempt  of  pride  as  a 
false  thing,  and  the  respect  for  simplicity 
and  honour.  Yet  as  we  think  of  love  as 
Christ  Jesus  has  shown  it,  and  as  St 
Paul  has  described  it,  we  realise  that  the 
measure  of  love  in  us  is  pitiably  small,  and 
that  its  quality  is  adulterated  by  much 

self-love  and  self-pleasing.  If  in  approach¬ 
ing  the  sacraments  it  were  necessary  to 

be  in  full  and  complete  charity  with  God 
and  our  neighbours,  we  might  well  fear  to 
draw  nigh.  So  we  must  distinguish  between 
charity  in  its  full  perfection,  as  shown  in 
the  character  of  Jesus,  approximations  to 
which  we  can  trace  in  the  saints,  and 
charity  in  its  less  developed  form  such  as 
we  must  have  if  we  would  make  a  good 


120  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 

communion.  If  we  had  perfect  charity  we 
would  have  no  sin,  for  love  destroys  sin> 
and  perfect  faith,  for  charity  requires  faith 
for  its  perfection.  But  we  do  not  approach 
the  altar  as  men  made  perfect,  but  as 
sinners  desiring  perfection.  Christ  meets  us 
with  His  blessing  bestowed,  not  upon  the 
righteous,  but  upon  those  who  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness.  Perfect  righteous¬ 
ness  and  perfect  love  are  His,  alone  of  all 
men.  For  a  share  in  that  perfection  we 
hunger  and  thirst,  and  in  proportion  to 
our  appetite  we  receive  the  blessing,  “  ye 
shall  be  filled.” 

The  kind  of  charity,  then,  that  we  require 
for  communion  with  Christ  may  be  de¬ 
scribed,  negatively,  as  the  repudiation  of  all 
that  contradicts  love,  all  the  self-seeking, 
self-conceit,  self-indulgence,  pride,  enmity, 
jealousy,  hate,  vindictiveness,  which  tend 
to  warp  the  direction  of  our  life,  and  turn 
its  energies  into  false  channels.  This  nega¬ 
tive  way,  the  removal  and  disowning  of 
all  that  contradicts  and  opposes  love,  be¬ 
longs  to  penitence,  with  which  we  have 
already  dealt.  And  on  the  positive  side, 
enabling  us  to  repudiate  its  opposite,  we 
have  the  consciousness  that  we  are  in  very 


CHARITY 


m 


truth  God’s  children,  that  there  is  in  our 
character  something  fundamentally  akin  to 
Him,  that  however  overlaid  with  dross, 
however  distorted  by  misuse,  however  feeble 
for  want  of  healthy  exercise,  there  belongs 
to  our  nature  essentially  something  that 
is  akin  to  all  that  is  good,  and  beautiful, 
and  true,  a  common  ground  of  being  on 
which  the  divine  and  human  can  meet. 
We  know  from  our  religion  that  God  has 
made  us  so,  with  a  humanity  capable  of 
meeting  the  divine ;  we  know  that  the 
divine  and  the  human  have  in  fact  met 
perfectly  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
thereby  bridging  the  gap  which  man’s  dis¬ 
obedience  had  made ;  we  know  that  in 
Baptism  the  Holy  Spirit  has  given  to  us 
personally  such  a  way  of  living  contact 
with  Christ  that  His  perfection  can  bring 
our  nature  to  the  fulness  for  which  God 
intends  it. 

The  more  we  meditate  on  the  Incarna¬ 
tion,  and  the  more  we  ponder  on  our  Lord’s 
teaching,  the  more  do  we  come  to  feel  the 
attractive  power  of  His  great  love,  and 
the  more  are  we  compelled  to  realise  that 
He  intends  us  to  be  hke  Him.  We  tend 
to  paralyse  ourselves  with  the  fear  that 

Q 


m  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


it  is  impossible  for  us  to  be  like  Him,  or 
we  wear  ourselves  to  death  in  desperate 
attempts  to  make  ourselves  like  Him  by 
the  persistent  efforts  of  our  own  wills. 
But  our  Lord  teaches  us  not  to  be  afraid 
of  any  impossibilities  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  at  work,  and  on  the  other  hand  not 
to  expect  to  accomplish  anything  apart  from 
His  Spirit.  He  points  the  way  of  faith 
as  the  way  to  perfection.  We  are  to 
believe  His  Word ;  believe  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  given ;  believe  that  Christ  shares 
His  own  life  with  us  through  the  Communion 
of  His  Body  and  Blood ;  believe  that  our 
sins  are  forgiven  by  God,  and  that  for¬ 
giveness  is  ministered  through  absolution ; 
believe  that  heahng  is  imparted  through 
anointing  and  the  Laying- on  of  Hands. 
Above  all  we  are  to  believe  that  by  the 
habit  of  communion,  by  the  continual  abid¬ 
ing  in  Him  and  letting  Him  abide  in  us, 
that  character  which  is  His,  the  character 
of  love  in  all  its  strength  and  beauty,  will 
steadily  grow  and  develop  until  it  comes 
to  its  fulness.  If  we  believe  that — ^and 
how  can  we  call  ourselves  behevers  if  we 
do  not  ? — ^then  out  of  our  faith  there  grows 
a  greater  and  greater  hunger  and  thirst 


CHARITY 


123 


after  Christlikeness,  which  will  result  both 
in  more  frequent  communion  and  more 
habitual  thinking  upon  Christ.  We  learn 
to  walk  with  Him,  and  work  with  Him ; 
and  further,  our  eyes  are  opened  to  see 
Him  in  our  neighbours.  In  them  there 
is  the  same  fundamental  ground  on  which 
God  and  man  may  meet.  In  them  as  in 
us  there  is  a  corresponding  need  of  peni¬ 
tence  ;  we  are  fellow- sufferers  through  sin ; 
for  them  as  for  us  Christ  died ;  to  them  as 
to  us  Christ  offers  His  transforming  life ; 
them  and  us  alike  it  is  His  will  to  lift  up 
into  a  new  life,  through  the  communion  of 
His  life  in  His  Church.  For  them  as  for 
us  there  is  the  same  patient  loving  power 
of  the  Spirit  at  work.  And  the  most 
glorious  task  to  which  we  can  be  set  is  to 
help  our  neighbours  to  become  conscious  of 
the  possibilities  of  sharing  Christ’s  life,  and 
to  hunger  and  thirst  after  Him. 

This  brings  us  to  the  proof  of  love,  viz. 
willing  service.  There  is  no  joy  greater 
than  to  serve  those  we  love.  Therefore 
Christ  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  the 
lover  when  He  took  the  form  of  the  servant. 
There  is  no  end  to  service,  as  there  is  no 
end  to  love.  It  is  only  when  we  think  of 


124  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


ourselves  that  we  tire  of  service.  Love 
makes  service  perfect  freedom.  It  is  this 
fact  that  makes  the  religion  of  saving  one’s 
own  soul  such  a  pitiable  missing  of  the 
mark.  Our  souls  are  bound  up  with  the 
souls  of  the  profiteers  and  the  prostitutes, 
the  Orangemen  and  Sinn  Feiners,  the  Kaffirs, 
the  Chinese,  the  Turks,  the  Bolshevists. 
They  are  all  dear  to  Christ,  their  sins  like 
ours  grieve  His  Spirit ;  for  them  as  for 
us  He  died,  and  they  all  come  within  the 
range  of  His  prayer,  ‘‘  Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do.”  The 
Christian  world  has  failed  just  so  far  as  the 
love  of  Christians  has  waxed  cold.  Had 
we  and  the  generations  of  Christians  before 
us  shown  forth  the  light  of  Christ  in  the 
same  way  that  the  Christians  of  the  first 
three  centuries  did,  the  v/orld  would  not 
have  come  into  its  present  state.  Will 
it  require  another  outbreak  of  world-wide 
persecution  to  bring  us  through  purgation 
and  penitence  to  a  new  and  living  sense 
of  Christ’s  love  and  Christ’s  claims  ?  Or 
can  we  see  a  more  hopeful  outlook,  supphed 
by  the  Washington  Conference,  the  League 
of  Nations,  and  the  Lambeth  Encychcal, 
which  will  send  us  on  to  our  knees  in  St 


CHARITY 


125 


Andrewstide  to  pray  with  more  confidence 
that  the  love  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ 
may  draw  all  nations  to  Him,  may  at  last 
bring  peace  on  earth,  and  goodwill  among 
men  ?  Intercession  is  for  the  Christian  one 
of  the  obvious  duties  of  love.  Our  Christian 
pleadings  are  unified  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
with  the  eternal  pleading  of  Christ,  Who 
ever  liveth  to  make  intercession.  Thus  our 
intercessions  find  their  centre  and  heart 
in  the  Eucharist,  when  with  hearts  lifted 
up  into  heavenly  places  we  join  with  the 
whole  Church  Universal,  in  Christ,  before 
the  Father’s  throne,  pleading  God’s  love 
and  Man’s  love  shown  on  Calvary  to  draw 
mankind  to  God. 

The  spiritual  content  of  our  religion  de¬ 
mands  our  constant  attention.  Behind  the 
outer  form  there  is  the  spiritual  reality ; 
and  it  is  both  practical  and  necessary  to 

walk  in  the  Spirit.”  When  we  come  to 
Christ  trusting,  but  hungering  to  trust  more 
vitally,  penitent,  but  desiring  to  hate  sin 
to  the  death,  and  loving  a  little,  but  de¬ 
siring  from  the  bottom  of  our  sincere  hearts 
to  be  filled  with  Christ’s  own  perfect  love, 
then  in  the  practice  of  communion  we  find 
as  a  matter  of  spiritual  fact,  that  in  answer 


126  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


to  our  expectation  we  are  lifted  up  into 
heavenly  places,  and  that  we  do  develop 
a  dislike  of  sins  which  we  once  loved,  and 
a  capacity  to  view  other  people  with  charity, 
patience,  and  a  growing  spirit  of  fellowship. 
We  realise  that  Christ  in  love  has  come 
down  to  our  level  and  is  lifting  us  up  to 
His ;  and  we  find  that  without  losing  touch 
with  Him  we  can  stoop  to  the  level  of 
the  poorest  and  most  forlorn  and  most 
perverse,  and  let  Christ  in  us  lift  them  up 
also. 

Christ’s  love  will  teach  us  to  be  ashamed 
of  the  narrow  range  of  our  kindness,  and 
the  practice  of  dwelling  in  spirit  in  the 
presence  of  His  love  will  enlarge  our  view 
of  our  neighbours.  As  we  commit  our 
ways  to  God,  the  Holy  Spirit  through  our 
communions  and  prayers  and  meditations 
works  His  miracles  in  our  souls,  makes 
us  prefer  disciphne  to  indulgence,  and 
changes  out  of  all  recognition  our  weak 
and  often  adulterated  charity — adulterated 
with  vanity  and  pride — until  it  approxi¬ 
mates  more  and  more  to  the  true  standard 
which  Christ  reveals  to  us.  Long-suffering, 
forbearance,  meekness,  humility,  patience, 
the  patient,  reiterated  refusal  to  be  em- 


CHARITY 


127 


bittered  by  disappointment — these  qualities 
of  love  which  the  unconverted  world  cannot 
understand,  because  it  cannot  see  their 
strength — all  these  qualities  become  the 
property  of  him  who  in  hunger  and  thirst 
comes  continually  to  Christ  to  be  filled. 
More  and  more  the  Spirit  moulds  his  willing 
heart  after  the  likeness  of  Christ ;  more 
and  more  the  form  of  the  servant  becomes 
apparent  in  him ;  more  and  more  the  joy 
of  service  enables  him  to  endure  all  things ; 
more  and  more  Christ’s  likeness  becomes  his 
likeness ;  and  Christ’s  robe  of  charity,  first 
cast  upon  him  to  cover  the  nakedness  of 
his  sins,  has  become  not  only  his  robe,  but 
his  habit,  the  supernatural  use  and  custom 
of  his  soul. 

As  true  charity  grows  in  the  character, 
bodily  results  follow.  The  man  whose 
energies  are  occupied  in  serving  his  neigh¬ 
bours  has  no  time  for  weak  selfishness. 
The  doctor  who  labours  night  and  day 
during  an  epidemic  has  no  time  to  get 
ill.  And  the  life  of  service  toughens  the 
nervous  and  emotional  constitution.  Thus 
endurance  is  a  characteristic  of  charity. 
He  who  serves  develops  the  capacity  for 
service,  and  grows  stronger  to  carry  other 


128  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


people’s  burdens.  In  doing  so  he  forgets 
his  own  and  they  cease  to  weigh  upon  him. 
Thus  charity  like  the  other  virtues  tends 
to  health  of  body  and  mind  as  well  as  of 
spirit. 


CHAPTER  X 


HOLY  COMMUNION 

We  have  thought  of  the  Sacramental  Prin¬ 
ciple,  and  of  the  steps  by  which  we  approach 
God  in  the  Sacraments.  Now  let  us  think 
of  Holy  Communion  as  the  Sacrament  of 
ordinary  life.  Unlike  Baptism,  Confirma¬ 
tion,  Ordination,  and  Holy  Matrimony,  it 
is  not  the  initiation  into  a  new  state  of 
life,  or  the  entering  upon  a  new  vocation 
with  the  seal  of  God’s  blessing,  nor,  like 
the  Sacrament  of  Penance  or  of  Unction,  is 
it  the  occasional  remedy  for  grave  spiritual 
or  bodily  ill-health.  Both  from  our  Lord’s 
words  and  the  action  of  the  Apostles,  guided 
by  the  Spirit,  we  can  see  that  this  great 
sacrament  was  appointed  not  for  rare  and 
occasional,  but  for  frequent  and  ordinary 
use,  not  so  much  as  a  medicine  for  grievous 
sickness,  but  rather  as  the  food  for  the 
maintenance  of  spiritual  health.  Our  Lord 
speaks  of  His  Flesh  and  Blood  as  our  food, 
and  wliile  instituting  the  Blessed  Sacra- 


130  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


ment  He  described  the  relationship  between 
Himself  and  His  disciples  as  the  union  of 
the  Vine  and  the  branches,  a  continual 
abiding  in  one  another,  uninterruptedly 
sharing  a  common  life.  He  in  them  and 
they  in  Him.  Severed  from  communion 
with  Him,  His  disciples  become  fruitless 
and  wither.  Once  for  all  incorporated  into 
His  Body,  the  members  are  to  continue 
to  grow  in  health  and  strength  by  continual 
supplies  of  the  life  which  is  in  the  body, 
the  Life  of  Christ  in  His  Body  the  Church. 

For  the  maintenance  of  physical  and 
mental  health  we  know  the  necessity  of 
food,  exercise,  and  rest.  And  for  the  health 
of  the  spirit  which  is  essential  to  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the  inheritance  of  body  and 
mind,  the  same  three  factors  are  essential. 
The  Eucharist  gives  supremely  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  all  three. 

To  appreciate  how  we  feed  upon  Christ 
in  Holy  Communion  I  have  found  it  helpful 
to  fall  back  on  St  Paul’s  great  analogy 
of  the  Body  and  its  members,  similar  to  our 
Lord’s  metaphor  of  the  Vine.  Our  Lord, 
Who  in  His  incarnate  life  clothed  His 
Humanity  in  a  physical  body,  and  con¬ 
quered  while  wearing  it  all  man’s  enemies. 


HOLY  COMMUNION 


131 


after  He  had  raised  that  Humanity  into 
the  highest  glory  in  heaven,  devised  for  it 
a  new  Body,  made  by  His  Spirit’s  work, 
incorporating  into  union  with  Himself  all 
men  who  were  willing  to  surrender  them¬ 
selves  to  Him.  Christ’s  Humanity  is  thus 
embodied  in  His  Church,  filled  with  His 
Spirit,  and  commissioned  to  carry  His  Spirit 
and  His  Life  into  all  the  world  and  through 
all  the  ages,  till  His  Body  is  completed 
and  Its  purpose  fulfilled  in  all  mankind. 
Into  that  Body  we  have  been  incorporated, 
and  His  Spirit  has  been  given  to  us.  It  is 
essential  to  our  spiritual  well-being,  and  to 
our  ability  to  function  as  Christ’s  members, 
that  we  never  cease  to  draw  the  nourish¬ 
ment  of  our  life  from  Him.  Thinking  along 
this  line  we  see  that  we  feed  upon  Christ 
from  within  His  Body,  not  from  without, 
as  members  and  branches  feed  in  the  body 
and  in  the  vine.  This  thought  saves  us  from 
the  perplexities  that  have  raged  round  the 
question  ever  since  it  was  first  propounded 
by  the  Jews :  “  How  can  this  man  give 

us  His  flesh  to  eat  ?  ”  We  can  feed  upon 
Him  because  we  abide  in  Him.  Not  from 
without,  but  because  we  are  within  Christ’s 
Body,  we  can  feed  upon  His  Body.  Because 


m  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


not  only  has  His  blood  been  shed  and  His 
life  laid  down,  but  also  because  He  had 
power  to  take  His  life  again,  because  He 
is  alive  for  evermore^  therefore  the  Blood 
of  the  Lamb,  which  is  the  life  thereof,  is 
available  for  the  life  of  His  members. 

If,  then,  we  compare  the  constant  supply 
of  the  perfect  human  life  of  Christ  to  His 
members,  with  the  supply  of  physical  life 
in  our  natural  bodies  through  the  circula¬ 
tion  of  the  blood,  the  analogy  holds,  and 
is  full  of  suggestive  truth.  Think  for  a 
while  on  the  circulation  of  the  blood  as 
we  know  it.  By  the  action  of  the 
heart  there  is  sent  continually,  through 
no  uncertain  channels,  but  by  definitely 
appointed  vessels,  the  arteries,  a  stream  of 
living  blood  to  maintain  the  life  of  every 
member  and  organ  and  tissue  in  the  body. 
The  supply  is  accurately  regulated  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  needs  of  each  part,  and  fulfils 
three  main  purposes — cleansing,  feeding,  and 
immunising.  Our  members  require  cleans¬ 
ing  and  refreshing  within  as  well  as  without, 
for  in  the  ordinary  day’s  work  there  is  a 
continual  breaking  down  and  wasting  of 
the  tissues,  and  fatigue-products  accumulate 
which  are  poisonous  and  cause  the  feeling 


HOLY  COMMUNION 


133 


of  stiffness  and  fatigue.  These  the  clean 
fresh  blood  washes  out  and  carries  away 
in  the  veins,  to  be  removed  from  the  body 
through  the  lungs  and  otherwise.  Even 
so  in  our  spiritual  hfe,  “  The  blood  of  Jesus 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.”  Conscious  of 
failure,  of  fatigue  of  soul  and  weakness, 
of  poisonous  tendencies  that  need  purging, 
of  flagging  life  that  needs  refreshment,  we 
open  our  souls  to  the  inflow  of  Christ’s  Life 
to  make  us  clean  and  fresh. 

Again,  just  as  the  physical  blood  yields  to 
all  the  tissues  the  food  which  they  require 
for  their  upbuilding,  and  the  renewal  of  their 
vital  energy,  so  in  Holy  Communion  we 
members  receive  the  Life  of  Christ  for  our 
upbuilding,  for  the  feeding  and  reinforcing 
of  our  life,  for  the  renewing  of  power  to 
serve.  So  on  the  night  when  He  instituted 
the  Sacrament  of  His  Body  and  Blood, 
our  Lord  compared  Himself  and  us  to  the 
Vine  and  the  branches :  “  Abide  in  Me 

and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch  cannot  bear 
fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  Vine, 
so  neither  can  ye,  except  ye  abide  in  Me. 
I  am  the  Vine,  ye  are  the  branches ;  he 
that  abideth  in  Me  and  I  in  him,  the  same 
beareth  much  fruit ;  for  apart  from  Me 


134  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


ye  can  do  nothing.”  Our  power  of  spiritual 
work,  of  effective  service,  of  successful 
accomplishment,  depend  upon  our  feeding 
on  the  Life  of  Christ.  St  Paul’s  experience 
should  be  the  experience  of  every  communi¬ 
cant,  ‘‘  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
Who  strengtheneth  Me.” 

Further,  there  is  in  the  natural  circula¬ 
tion  of  the  blood  a  protective  provision 
of  immunity  from  the  attacks  of  disease. 
If  any  member  or  tissue  is  the  object  of 
a  bacterial  or  poisonous  attack,  the  whole 
economy  of  the  body  organises  and  equips 
an  expeditionary  force  of  blood-corpuscles, 
which  attack,  devour,  and  carry  away  the 
invading  organisms,  and  neutralise  by  anti¬ 
toxins  the  poison  which  has  found  entrance. 
Of  the  heat  and  noise  of  the  battle  we 
are  conscious,  in  the  redness,  swelling,  pain, 
and  heightened  temperature  of  inflamma¬ 
tion.  The  blood  in  normal  health — our 
defensive  force  on  a  peace  footing — should 
always  be  of  sufiicient  strength  to  combat 
successfully  any  ordinary  invasion  of  disease- 
germs.  So  effectively  does  the  body  do 
its  work  that  multitudinous  attacks  of  micro¬ 
organisms  are  successfully  warded  off  daily 
without  our  having  to  take  thought  at  all. 


HOLY  COMMUNION 


135 


So  again  in  the  Body  of  Christ,  we  members 
who  live  in  the  experience  of  the  Communion 
of  His  Life  are  so  filled  with  heightened 
spiritual  vitality,  that  the  sins  which  so 
easily  beset  us  are  normally  overcome  and 
destroyed  by  Christ  in  us.  Sometimes  there 
is  the  fierce  heat  of  the  battle  of  temptation, 
but  as  health  of  spirit  increases,  the  sin 
can  find  no  answer  to  its  appeal,  no  nidus 
in  which  to  settle,  no  nourishment  for  its 
growth.  The  soul  in  Christ  has  become 
dead  to  sin,  through  being  occupied  entirely 
with  Christ,  and  alive  in  Him  to  God. 
This  accounts  for  the  spiritual  immunity 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  saint,  and 
which  astonishes  the  world. 

Thus  by  the  definite  channel  of  a  priest¬ 
hood  ministering  the  mysteries  of  Christ, 
the  spiritual  food  of  all  the  members  of 
Christ’s  Body  is  supplied,  and  none  need 
starve  who  seek  to  receive  Him  for  their 
upbuilding.  It  is  this  universal  sharing  of 
all  the  members  in  the  one  perfect  Life 
that  constitutes  the  Communion  of  Saints. 
That  term,  the  Communion  of  Saints,  is 
vague  to  us,  just  because  the  members 
of  Christ’s  Body  are  not  using  as  they 
should  the  unspeakable  privilege  of  regular 


136  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


Communion.  In  the  early  centuries  the 
Lord’s  Day  Communion  of  all  Christians 
was  the  universal  custom.  Are  there  any 
difficulties  big  enough  that  we  should  suffer 
them  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  re¬ 
establishment  of  that  custom  for  the  sake 
of  the  life  of  the  whole  Church  of  Christ  ? 

But  the  Communion  of  Saints  in  the 
Eucharist  is  not  merely  a  passive  reception. 
It  is  the  occasion  of  the  exercise  of  glorious 
spiritual  activity.  In  response  to  the  in¬ 
vitation  we  “  lift  up  our  hearts  unto  the 
Lord.”  We  find  ourselves  in  our  place 
in  a  vast  congregation  of  spirits,  not  tied 
to  one  spot  like  Mt.  Sinai,  or  Jerusalem 
below,  or  St  Mary’s  Cathedral,  but  lifted 
into  our  spiritual  place  in  the  whole  body 
of  the  faithful,  in  heavenly  places,  in  the 
general  assembly  of  the  first-born,  with  the 
angels  and  archangels  and  all  the  com¬ 
pany  of  heaven,  identified  with  Christ  our 
Head  in  pleading  before  the  Throne  the 
merits  of  the  eternal  sacrifice  of  the  Son 
for  the  sake  of  the  whole  world.  With 
the  angeUc  choir  we  join  in  adoration  and 
praise,  giving  glory  to  Him  Who  sitteth 
upon  the  throne  and  unto  the  Lamb.  By 
the  activity  of  the  Spirit  within  us  we  take 


HOLY  COMMUNION 


137 


part  in  the  intercession  of  Christ  our  great 
High  Priest ;  and  in  His  Body  we  offer 
ourselves  to  the  Father,  a  living  sacrifice  for 
the  service  of  God.  What  higher  spiritual 
activity  could  we  imagine  than  this  sharing 
in  the  Eucharist  with  all  Christ’s  members 
in  adoration,  worship,  thanksgiving,  inter¬ 
cession,  and  self-oblation  ?  What  else  on 
earth  can  compare  with  it  ? 

Lastly,  with  food  and  exercise  the  spirit 
like  the  body  requires  for  its  well-being 
rest.  And  the  invitation  to  the  Eucharist 
is  voiced  in  our  Lord’s  words :  “  Come 

unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.”  We 
come  out  of  the  street,  out  of  the  roar  and 
traffic  and  bustle  and  fatigue  and  strain 
and  conflict  which  make  up  daily  hfe  on 
the  plane  of  this  world,  and  enter  into  the 
Presence-chamber,  the  Sanctuary  of  God. 
There  the  weariness  is  refreshed,  the  faint¬ 
ness  revived,  the  depression  dispelled,  the 
flagging  faith  renewed,  the  courage  reinforced, 
the  power  to  persevere  received.  The 
balance  weighed  down  by  the  pressure  of 
the  world’s  struggle  with  pain  and  sin  is 
redressed  by  the  superabundant  weight  of 
the  grace  of  God  supplied  in  the  Body  of 
s 


138  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


Christ.  We  find  refuge  under  the  Divine 
wings  and  rest  awhile  there  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle  from  the  strife  of  tongues.  Thence 
we  come  out  again  into  the  world  with  the 
sense  that  Christ’s  sacrifice  is  all  availing, 
His  love  supreme,  His  grace  sufficient,  His 
protection  certain.  His  strength  vouchsafed. 
The  threatening  difficulties  shrink  to  their 
true  proportions  as  httle  inequalities  in  the 
ground  on  which  we  tread  in  the  power 

and  peace  of  Christ  carried  within  us 
wherever  we  are  called  to  go.  Our  wills 
are  tuned  to  peace,  because  they  have 

become  attuned  to  the  will  of  God.  Our 
hearts  are  at  peace  because  Christ  our 

Desire  has  given  Himself  to  us.  Our  minds 
are  at  peace  because  we  know  that  nothing 
in  earth  or  hell  can  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God  which  we  have  tasted  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord. 

It  must  follow  that  for  anyone  who 
realises  the  peace  and  joy  of  communion 
with  Christ  this  wonderful  sacrament  will 
affect  body  as  well  as  soul.  Divine  life, 
upon  which  all  human  and  physical  fife 
is  based,  has  flowed  into  the  communicant 
to  refresh  the  springs  of  his  being.  The 

cleansing  and  restoring  of  the  soul  will 


HOLY  COMMUNION 


1S9 


tend  to  react  upon  the  soul’s  instrument 
the  body,  and  therefore  it  is  not  without 
intent  that  the  Church  puts  into  the  priest’s 
mouth  the  prayer :  “  The  Body  of  our 

Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  was  given  for  thee, 
preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting 
life.”  It  is  not,  of  course,  this  flesh  that 
we  expect  to  be  preserved  everlastingly ; 
indeed  it  is  changing  every  moment,  as 
it  is  broken  down  and  built  up  in  the 
process  of  metabolism.  But  whatever  body 
we  may  have  we  may  expect  to  be  refreshed 
and  preserved  as  the  outward  counterpart 
of  a  soul  which  lives  eternally  by  sharing 
the  life  of  Christ.  All  that  is  essentially 
me  must  be  preserved  as  long  as  I  abide  in 
Christ  and  He  in  me.  His  indwelling  must 
produce  health  in  its  fullest  sense  of  whole¬ 
ness  of  being. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  ABSOLUTION 

We  are  faced  by  an  initial  difficulty  when 
we  come  to  the  consideration  of  this  subject. 
For  most  of  us,  probably,  have  been  brought 
up  in  an  atmosphere  of  suspicious  repug¬ 
nance  to  the  practice  of  auricular  confession, 
and  we  are  still  surrounded  by  people  who 
are  utterly  opposed  to  it,  without  having 
any  first-hand  experience  on  which  to  found 
their  opinion.  If  we  want  to  know  the 
value  of  any  remedy,  whether  for  soul  or 
body,  we  would  naturally  prefer  to  consult 
those  who  have  practical  experience  of  its 
use,  rather  than  those  who  have  none. 
And  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  is  essentially 
remedial,  it  is  a  medicine  for  the  healing 
of  the  soul.  It  ought  therefore  to  be 
obvious  that  the  only  people  whose  opinion 
is  worth  weighing  as  to  the  value  of  sacra¬ 
mental  confession  are  those  who  have  arrived 
at  their  judgment  not  by  hearsay  but  by 
practice. 

140 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  ABSOLUTION  141 


The  subject  may  be  considered  in  many 
aspects.  I  propose  in  this  chapter  to  deal 
with  two,  the  human  need,  and  the  Divine 
supply. 

1.  The  human  need.  We  have  seen  that 
man  is  essentially  a  God-conscious  being. 
More  or  less  aware  of  his  relationship  to 
God,  he  has  within  himself  a  sense  of 
responsibility.  This  sense  of  responsibility 
may  be  crude,  uneducated,  and  ill-developed. 
Or  it  may  be  healthy,  strong,  and  acute. 
On  the  other  hand  it  may  be  falsely 
sensitive,  hyperacute,  and  mistaken.  If  any¬ 
one  is  markedly  deficient  in  the  sense  of 
responsibility,  we  call  him  insane,  or  un¬ 
developed  mentally. 

This  sense  of  responsibility,  the  constant 
witness  to  God’s  child  that  he  has  a  duty 
to  his  Father,  and  to  his  Father’s  family, 
has  something  to  say  in  every  choice  of 
the  will.  Its  voice  may  be  drowned  in 
the  clamour  of  desires ;  its  witness  may 
be  suppressed  and  the  consciousness  of  re¬ 
sponsibility  may  become  gradually  weaker. 
But  it  is  only  suppressed,  not  destroyed. 
It  is  thrust  down  into  the  subconscious 
mind  and  there  continues  to  work  unnoticed 
and  unregarded.  It  weaves  itself  into  the 


142  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


complexes  about  which  the  psychologists 
speak,  and  continues,  in  the  forgotten  memory 
of  sins  and  failures,  to  mar  our  peace  and 
weaken  our  mental  energy.  To  forget  the 
past  is  impossible ;  every  past  act  of  the 
mind  is  a  factor  which  contributes  to  the 
total  condition  of  the  mind  to-day.  To  cut 
out  a  year,  or  a  day,  or  a  moment  from 
our  history  would  be,  not  a  miracle,  but 
a  breach  of  the  constitution  of  the  universe ; 
it  cannot  be  done : 

“  The  moving  finger  writes,  and  having  writ 
Moves  on  ;  nor  all  thy  piety  or  wit 

Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half  a  line, 

Nor  all  thy  tears  wash  out  a  word  of  it.” 

Every  healthy  thought,  every  kind  word, 
every  true  choice  and  Christlike  act,  even 
the  smallest,  contribute  to  our  eternal 
character,  and  “in  no  wise  lose  their 
reward.”  And  every  sinful  thought,  word, 
or  deed  has  left  its  everlasting  mark.  We 
are  exactly  what  we  have  made  ourselves 
by  all  our  past  choices,  both  good  and 
evil. 

The  wounds  in  our  souls,  all  those 
blemishes  of  character,  some  of  which  we 
know,  and  some  of  which  we  do  not  notice, 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  ABSOLUTION  143 


all  alike  cry  out  to  God  for  healing.  We 
may  hear  consciously  the  articulate  wording 
of  the  cry.  We  may  be  acutely  aware  of 
some  glaring  defect  or  sin  which  we  can¬ 
not  dismiss  from  memory.  Or  the  cry  may 
not  be  articulate  to  our  conscious  mind, 
and  we  may  know  of  it  only  as  a  sense 
of  dissatisfaction  and  disgrace,  or  vague 
fear  and  spiritual  discomfort,  or  feeling  of 
weakness  or  failure,  or  a  clouding  of  faith 
and  coohng  of  love  to  God  and  man. 
And  these  spiritual  maladies,  whether  we 
discern  their  nature  or  not,  have  an  effect 
on  mind  and  body,  producing  depressions 
and  neurasthenic  conditions,  and  physical 
pains,  and  I  believe,  in  not  a  few  cases, 
organic  diseases.  For  the  different  sides  of 
our  nature  constantly  interact  on  one  another, 
and  the  mind  and  the  body  are  inevitably 
affected  by  our  spiritual  state. 

Sin,  then,  is  followed  by  soul-sickness  which 
calls  for  a  remedy.  And  no  other  remedy 
will  suffice  finally  but  the  restoration  of 
our  true  relationship  with  God.  But  we 
cannot  restore  that  by  our  own  unaided 
efforts,  we  cannot  heal  ourselves.  There¬ 
fore  the  work  of  Atonement  had  to  be 
initiated  by  God.  For  His  love  has  never 


144  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


changed,  nor  His  understanding  of  our  con¬ 
dition.  Knowing  whereof  we  are  made,  He 
still  has  such  faith  in  us  His  offspring,  that 
Jesus  Christ  gave  Himself  into  the  hands 
of  man,  to  work  their  will  on  Him.  And 
the  love  that  on  the  Cross  triumphed  over 
all  the  malice  of  the  universe,  has  made 
of  that  Cross  the  magnet  to  draw  all  man¬ 
kind  into  the  peace  of  God’s  forgiveness, 
and  the  happiness  of  His  Home.  Christ’s 
scars  are  in  heaven  His  chiefest  glory,  for 
they  are  perfectly  healed,  and  remain  only 
as  “  rich  wounds,  yet  visible  above,  in 
beauty  glorified,”  for  their  perfect  healing 
is  an  eternal  symbol  that  the  Atonement 
is  complete.  The  world’s  sins  have  done 
their  worst  upon  Him ;  He  bore  the  wounds 
but  triumphed  over  them  in  dying.  The 
poison  of  the  sins  is  destroyed,  and  the 
healed  scars  remain,  the  eternal  witness  of 
the  triumph  of  God’s  love.  God  does  not 
forget.  He  does  more.  He  forgives,  and  by 
His  forgiveness  turns  Christ’s  wounds  into 
glory,  and  the  scars  sing  His  love. 

2.  This  brings  us  to  the  second  point, 
God^s  supply  in  answer  to  man’s  need. 
Christ  Jesus,  Who  as  man  bore  the  pain 
of  the  world’s  sin,  proclaimed  that  He  the 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  ABSOLUTION  145 


Son  of  Man  has  power  on  earth  to 
forgive  sins.  That  was  His  first  step  in  ad¬ 
ministering  health  to  the  paralytic.  And 
the  essential  note  of  the  Gospel,  which 
distinguishes  Christianity  from  all  other 
religions,  is  that  it  is  the  Gospel  of  the 
remission  of  sins  through  the  Name  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  His  last  conversation  in  the 
upper  room  on  the  night  of  His  betrayal. 
He  impressed  on  His  Apostles  that  they 
were  ministers  of  His  choosing,  and  not 
self-appointed ;  and  added,  “  He  that  re- 
ceiveth  you,  receiveth  Me,  and  he  that 
receiveth  Me,  receiveth  Him  that  sent 
Me.”  He  tells  them  that  they  are  to  do 
the  works  that  He  has  been  doing.  After 
His  resurrection  He  told  them  that  all 
authority  had  been  given  to  Him  in  heaven 
and  in  earth,  and  then  gave  them  His 
express  commission  while  breathing  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  them :  “As  the  Father  hath 
sent  Me,  even  so  send  I  you.”  The  Christian 
ministry  Js  clearly  understood  by  the 
Apostles  to  be  the  ministry  of  divine  gifts 
which  the  ascended  Christ  gave  to  man 
by  His  Spirit.  They  are  the  stewards  of 
the  mysteries  of  God,  entrusted  with  the 
ministry  of  reconciliation. 


146  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


Ever  since  the  Apostles’  time,  the  gift 
of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  has  been  recog¬ 
nised  as  one  of  the  essential  gifts  which 
the  Church  carries  to  mankind — a  gift  made 
possible  by  the  Incarnation  and  Atonement, 
by  Christ’s  appointment  of  the  Apostolic 
Ministry,  and  by  the  grace  of  His  Holy 
Spirit  given  to  the  Church  to  convey  the 
gift  in  His  power  and  name.  Every  priest 
at  his  ordination  has  the  authority  to  ad¬ 
minister  God’s  forgiveness,  solemnly  imparted 
to  him  through  the  Laying- on  of  Hands, 
that  wherever  there  is  a  congregation  there 
should  be  at  least  one  member  of  Christ’s 
Body  to  exercise  the  ministry  of  reconcilia¬ 
tion.  The  priest  is  not  to  throw  this  gift 
broadcast ;  there  are  times  at  which  the 
gift  must  be  withheld,  because  the  sinner 
is  not  yet  fit  to  receive  it,  through  lack  of 
repentance  or  faith  or  purpose  of  amend¬ 
ment.  Therefore  that  the  priest  may  be 
enabled  to  impart  the  remedy.  He  must 
know  of  the  disease. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  many  who  have 
no  experience  of  the  confessional  object. 
Not  recognising  the  priest  as  a  divinely 
appointed  physician  of  the  soul,  not  re¬ 
cognising  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  appointed 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  ABSOLUTION  147 


him,  they  say,  why  should  I  tell  a  man  my 
sins  ?  But  who  would  go  to  a  physician 
of  the  body  and  refuse  to  tell  the  symptoms 
or  allow  him  to  inquire  into  the  malady? 
Even  the  mere  unburdening  of  the  soul 
in  confession,  apart  from  absolution,  is  a 
comfortable  relief  of  the  soul’s  tension ; 
and  every  psychologist  knows  the  value 
of  such  an  unburdening.  But  there  is  much 
more  than  that.  The  confession  is  not 
to  the  priest  but  to  God,  in  the  sight  of 
the  whole  company  of  heaven ;  and  the 
priest  is  there  to  hear  as  representing  the 
brotherhood  of  the  Church.  For  the  sins 
confessed,  even  sins  of  thought,  are  sins 
against  the  whole  Body  of  Christ.  And  the 
pardon  of  God,  which  the  priest  conveys, 
carries  with  it  reconciliation  with  the  whole 
company  of  the  Church.  It  restores  him  to 
fellowship  in  spirit  both  with  God  and  man. 

The  penitent  should  clearly  understand 
that  the  forgiveness  pronounced  is  real.  It 
is  promised  by  Jesus  Christ ;  it  is  guaranteed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  there  for  him  to 
receive.  And  we  have  aheady  dealt  with 
our  part  in  making  ready,  so  that  we 
may  be  enabled  to  receive  the  sacramental 
gift  without  scruple  or  diffidence. 


148  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


The  psycho-analyst  seeks  to  reach  not 
only  the  troubles  in  the  conscious  mind, 
but  also  the  hidden  complexes  in  the  sub¬ 
conscious.  It  is  in  dispute  whether  he 
really  deals  with  fundamental  things  or 
not.  But  when  he  does  reveal  the  hidden 
springs  of  mental  and  spiritual  pain,  he 
can  only  cure  the  evil  finally  if  he  can 
succeed  in  bringing  the  patient  to  true 
peace  with  God.  Most  psycho-analysts  are 
not  equipped  for  that.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  penitent  has  conscientiously  confessed 
his  sins  as  far  as  he  honestly  can,  deUberately 
hiding  nothing,  there  will  be  sufficient  matter 
in  the  confession  to  enable  the  experienced 
priest  to  see  further  than  the  surface  of 
consciousness,  and  his  advice  will  be  found 
to  reach  to  the  foundations.  Every  mental 
complex  must  ultimately  find  its  solution 
in  the  realised  presence  of  God,  in  the 
acknowledgment  of  sin  before  His  mercy- 
seat,  in  the  recognition  of  His  redeeming 
love  that  covers  all  and  destroys  all  sin, 
in  the  thankfulness  that  He  has  accepted 
our  poor  halting  apology,  and,  forasmuch 
as  we  have  nothing  wherewith  to  pay  our 
debt,  freely  forgives  us.  For  His  pardon 
and  love  cover  all  the  past  and  present. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  ABSOLUTION  149 


not  only  the  little  we  remember,  and  reach 
down  to  the  very  roots  of  our  being.  If 
our  penitence  and  trust  are  simple,  if  we 
give  ourselves,  withholding  nothing,  into  His 
hands,  knowing  that  only  in  His  hands 
is  there  mercy  and  safety,  then  the  con¬ 
verting  power  of  His  grace  will  flow  as  a 
cleansing  stream  through  all  our  character. 
The  lurking  poisons  are  washed  away,  and 
the  wounds,  made  clean,  heal  from  the 
bottom.  There  remain  the  healed  scars, 
never  to  be  obhterated,  for  each  scar  now 
testifies,  not  to  the  sin,  but  to  the  love 
that  healed  it.  Only  diabolic  pride  would 
hide  such  scars.  Humility  wears  them 
with  gratitude,  for  in  their  healing  the 
penitent  has  learned  the  supremacy  of 
God’s  love. 


CHAPTER  XII 


SACRAMENTAL  HEALING 

PIaving  thought  of  the  means  provided 
by  our  Lord  in  His  Church  for  the  healing 
of  the  soul,  we  turn  now  to  consider  the 
sacramental  healing  of  the  body. 

First  let  us  be  clear  on  two  points :  first, 
the  body  is  not  of  chief  but  of  secondary 
importance.  The  body  is  the  spirit’s 
dwelling-place  and  vehicle,  its  instrument 
and  means  of  communication,  and  derives 
all  its  importance  and  sanctity  from  the 
spirit.  Apart  from  the  spirit  the  body  is 
mere  dust  of  the  earth.  Therefore  to  make 
the  well-being  and  comfort  of  the  body 
the  chief  end  in  life  is  a  great  mistake.  We 
must  not  seek  after  religion  for  the  sake 
of  the  body ;  rather  we  must  be  ready 
if  need  be  to  let  our  body  suffer  damage 
or  even  destruction  for  the  sake  of  Christ. 
But  we  seek  the  health  of  the  body  in 
order  to  be  able  to  render  more  efficient 
service  to  God  in  this  life.  The  service 


160 


SACRAMENTAL  HEALING  151 


of  God  is  the  only  final  motive  that  is 
worthy  of  the  Christian. 

The  second  preliminary  point  on  which 
we  must  be  clear  is  this ;  our  nature 
is  one,  not  three ;  and  the  three  sides 
of  our  nature,  body,  mind,  and  spirit, 
are  not  so  separate  or  isolated  that  any 
of  them  can  be  completely  considered 
without  the  others.  And  the  condition  of 
any  one  part  affects  the  rest.  If  there 
is  disease  and  disorder  in  one  part,  the 
whole  man  is  affected  and  suffers.  There¬ 
fore  when  our  Lord  came  into  the  world 
to  reveal  the  Father’s  will,  He  showed 
Himself  as  the  Healer  and  Redeemer  of  the 
whole  man,  not  only  of  a  part.  The 
human  clay,  the  body  fashioned  of  the 
dust  of  the  earth,  He  took  upon  Himself, 
and  kept  it  in  perfect  order  and  health 
because  of  His  perfect  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  nature,  which  are  the  laws  of  God. 
He  took  a  human  mind,  like  in  every  re¬ 
spect  to  our  minds,  except  that  He  kept 
it  in  perfect  order  and  peace  of  working 
by  continual  reliance  on,  and  obedience 
to,  God  His  Father.  His  human  spirit 
He  also  kept  in  perfect  health,  unfaltering 
in  His  love  to  God  and  man,  through  un- 


152  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


broken  communion  with  His  Father,  and 
the  habit  of  living  in  heaven  while  walking 
on  earth.  For  the  two  are  not  separated 
by  distance ;  earth  is  part  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  as  our  Lord  shows.  Wearing 
human  nature  in  its  completeness.  He 
ministered  healing  and  restoration  to  the 
whole  man.  To  the  spirit  of  man  He 
gave  healing  by  His  forgiveness  of  sins, 
and  by  opening  spiritual  channels  of  access 
to  God  by  prayer  and  sacrament.  To  the 
mind  He  gave  healing  by  His  teaching  of 
truth,  by  removing  fears  and  obsessions 
and  mental  oppressions  of  all  kinds,  and 
by  His  gift  of  that  full  mental  peace 
which  is  a  certain  accompaniment  of  trust 
in  God.  And  to  the  body  He  laboured 
continually  to  give  healing  by  curing  those 
who  suffered  from  all  manner  of  diseases. 
He  left  no  part  of  our  nature  untouched. 
He  brought  order  and  health  and  salvation 
to  the  whole  man. 

We  can  see,  then,  that  our  Lord  gave  heal¬ 
ing  to  the  body  as  one  part  of  a  ministry 
of  restoration  and  redemption  to  mankind. 
And  that  ministry  of  restoration  was  by 
His  command  to  be  continued  and  carried 
by  His  Church  to  all  the  nations.  There  is 


SACRAMENTAL  HEALING  153 


no  hint  that  our  Lord  intended  His  salva¬ 
tion  to  be  limited  or  contracted  in  its 
operation,  but  there  is  clear  evidence  of 
His  positive  command  to  minister  to  every 
side  of  human  nature.  His  command : 
‘‘  Freely  ye  have  received ;  freely  give,” 
was  given  in  connection  with  a  mission 
of  bodily  healing.  The  healing  of  the  sick 
by  spiritual  means  was  to  be  one  of  the 
characteristic  works  of  His  Church,  and 
bodily  recoveries  were  to  be  among  the 
signs  that  would  “  follow  (not  precede)  them 
that  believe.”  The  command  to  heal  was 
as  definitely  and  clearly  given  as  the  com¬ 
mand  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  forgive 
sins.  And  so  the  Apostles  clearly  under¬ 
stood  it.  Their  message  to  the  world  was 
the  present  supremacy  of  the  risen  Christ 
over  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  the 
destruction  of  the  power  of  sin  and  dis¬ 
order  which  Christ  had  wrought  by  His 
Incarnation  and  Atonement,  and  the  presence 
of  His  Spirit  enabling  the  members  of  His 
Church  to  live  by  His  power  and  not  their 
own.  And  in  His  Spirit  the  Apostles  con¬ 
tinued  to  do  the  works  of  Christ.  SS. 

Peter  and  John  healed  the  congenitally  lame 
man  at  the  Temple  gate,  not  by  physical 
u 


154  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


means,  but  by  the  power  of  the  Name  of 
Jesus  Christ.  St  Paul  healed  the  father 
of  Publius  of  dysentery,  and  the  impotent 
man  at  Lystra  by  the  same  power,  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Just  as  our 
Lord’s  works  of  healing  were  wrought  by 
spiritual  means,  so  were  the  works  of  His 
Apostles.  It  was  not  by  medical  skill,  not 
by  scientific  knowledge,  nor  even  by  holi¬ 
ness  of  character  that  the  disciples  healed. 
They  healed  by  the  power  of  Christ,  in¬ 
vincible  over  all  obstacles,  still  present  in 
His  Church,  and  using  His  members  to  do 
His  restoring  work. 

There  is  no  ground  for  supposing  that  the 
healing  of  the  sick  by  spiritual  means  was  a 
temporary  gift  to  the  Church,  withdrawn  at 
the  close  of  the  apostolic  age.  On  the  contrary, 
there  is  definite  and  abundant  evidence  that 
for  several  centuries  such  healing  was  an 
every-day  practice  in  the  Church.  And  it  is 
significant  that  the  apologists  of  the  early 
centuries  cited  as  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
Christian  doctrine,  not  the  miracles  of  our 
Lord’s  incarnate  life,  but  the  contemporary 
works  of  healing  which  the  ministers  of  Christ 
were  performing  in  every  place.  The  signs 
continued  to  follow  them  that  believed. 


SACRAMENTAL  HEALING  155 


It  was  only  later,  when  whole  tribes  were 
baptized  on  the  conversion  of  their  chiefs, 
when  many  pagan  superstitions  and  prac¬ 
tices  were  allowed  to  exist  among  people 
nominally  Christian,  when  the  standard  of 
Christian  faith  and  morals  became  lower, 
that  the  works  of  healing  became  fewer. 
But  wherever,  all  down  the  centuries,  there 
has  been  a  clear  and  simple  faith  in  God 
through  Jesus  Christ,  wherever  there  has  been 
a  revival  of  religion,  even  till  now,  there 
has  always  been,  as  an  accompaniment,  a 
renewal  of  healing  power  manifesting  itself 
among  believers. 

Out  of  many  forms  of  healing  in  use 
in  the  early  Church,  two  persisted  and  are 
in  use  to-day,  viz.  the  Laying-on  of  Hands 
in  the  Name  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  the 
Anointing  with  blessed  oil.  The  first  was 
used  by  our  Lord,  among  the  many  means 
He  employed,  and  it  is  recorded  that  He 
enjoined  its  use  in  sending  out  His  Church 
into  the  world  to  continue  to  work  in  His 
Name  and  in  the  power  of  His  Spirit. 
The  second  is  in  accord  both  with  apostolic 
doctrine  and  practice.  The  twelve,  we  are 
told,  anointed  with  oil  many  who  were 
sick  and  healed  them,  and  St  James  says 


156  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


that  if  any  are  sick  they  are  to  send  for  the 
ministers  of  the  Church,  that  they  may  be 
anointed  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  with  prayer 
for  their  recovery,  and  that  at  the  same  time 
they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  their  sins. 

The  question  arises,  who  were  the  ministers 
of  healing?  In  the  early  Church,  and  still,  two 
ministerial  channels  can  be  recognised.  All 
bishops  and  priests,  by  virtue  of  their  office? 
imparted  healing  by  Unction  and  the  Laying- 
on  of  Hands.  But  in  addition,  whenever  any 
layman  or  woman  was  found  endowed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  with  a  gift  of  healing,  the  gift 
was  recognised  by  the  Church  and  the  ministry 
of  it  was  regularly  authorised.  It  became  a 
custom  for  the  bishops  to  bless  oil  which  the 
people  took  home  and  used  for  themselves  and 
their  families. 

To-day,  after  much  investigation  and  dis¬ 
cussion  and  inquiry,  a  committee  of  the 
last  Lambeth  Conference  (in  1920)  recom¬ 
mended  that  the  ministry  of  healing  by 
anointing  and  the  laying- on  of  hands  with 
prayer  in  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ,  be  re¬ 
stored,  and  in  the  revised  form  of  the  Scottish 
Prayer  Book  which  is  in  preparation,  the 
Service  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  provides 
a  form  for  the  ministry  of  Holy  Unction,  and 


SACRAMENTAL  HEALING  157 


for  the  Laying-on  of  Hands.  Thus  we  return 
to  the  primitive  custom,  and  assert  our  belief 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  still  alive  and  working  in 
the  Church  of  His  Spirit. 

It  is  of  course  true  of  sacramental  healing 
as  of  every  other  sacramental  rite,  that 
the  grace  of  the  sacrament  is  received  by 
faith.  Over  and  over  again  our  Lord  em¬ 
phasised  the  necessity  of  faith  in  connection 
with  recovery.  If  faith  flags,  healing  is 
delayed.  If  faith  recovers,  works  of  heal¬ 
ing  abound.  It  is  for  us  to  show  our 
belief  in  Christ’s  promises  by  accepting  His 
word  and  using  the  means  of  healing  which 
He  has  provided.  Then,  as  at  all  times, 
we  shall  find  that  “  the  signs  will  follow 
them  that  believe.” 

But  it  is  obvious  that  the  clergy  cannot 
go  about  pressing  the  use  of  sacramental 
healing  on  those  who  have  no  desire  for 
it  or  belief  in  it.  St  James’  injunction 
is  for  those  who  are  sick  to  send  for  the 
minister  of  healing.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
clergy  to  make  it  known  that  sacramental 
healing  is  to  be  had ;  then  it  is  for 
the  people  who  believe  in  Christ’s  promises 
to  apply  in  cases  of  need  for  the  priest’s 
ministrations. 


158  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


One  last  point  I  would  make  clear.  Does 
the  use  of  spiritual  means  of  healing  in¬ 
volve  the  disuse  of  medicine  and  surgery? 
To  my  mind,  certainly  not.  Medicine  and 
surgery  are  God’s  gifts  on  the  physical 
plane.  They  are  of  vast  value,  but  they 
only  minister  to  one  side  of  our  nature. 
Psychotherapy  again  is  of  vast  value ;  it 
ministers  to  the  mind.  But  body  and  mind 
are  alike  subordinate  to  the  spirit.  And 
spiritual  healing,  when  it  brings  peace  and 
order  and  health  to  the  spirit,  also  resolves 
complexes  in  the  mind,  removes  fear  and 
anxiety,  and  gives  mental  peace.  And  mental 
and  spiritual  peace  produce  the  conditions 
under  which  the  natural  vitahty  of  the  body 
can  reassert  itself  and  throw  off  disease. 
Bodily,  mental,  and  spiritual  heahng  are  all 
of  value ;  they  are  all  God’s  gifts,  to  be  used 
as  such.  But  the  greatest  is  spiritual  healing. 

Note  on  Anointing, — I  am  indebted  to  Dr  Haig 
Ferguson  for  the  loan  of  his  paper  on  the  Anointing 
of  the  Siek,  in  whieh  he  distinguishes  between  the 
two  Greek  words  for  anointing,  whieh  carries 
the  idea  of  consecration,  as  in  o  Xpio-ros,  and  dXeicfiO), 
which  refers  to  the  medicinal  use  of  unguents. 
He  concludes  that  the  injunction  of  St  James  to 
the  elders  of  the  Church  is  to  employ  physical 
remedies  with  prayer.  The  use  of  Holy  Unction 


SACRAMENTAL  HEALING  159 


would  thus  become  a  solemn  blessing  of  the  work 
of  the  doctor,  with  prayer  for  the  patient’s  re¬ 
covery,  and  absolution.  While  agreeing  that  this 
in  itself  would  be  a  most  valuable  rite,  I  question 
if  its  meaning  does  not  extend  further.  Xptco  also 
originally  referred  to  a  purely  physical  use  of  oil, 
its  sacramental  use  developed  later.  This  may 
be  said  of  all  sacramental  vehicles,  e.g.  water,  first 
used  for  washing,  then  for  Holy  Baptism  ;  bread 
and  wine,  used  first  for  food  and  drink,  then  for 
Holy  Communion ;  the  laying- on  of  hands,  first 
no  doubt  an  act  of  fatherly  affection,  then  a  solemn 
Blessing  and  Consecration.  Our  Lord  takes  the 
common  things  of  earth,  and  fills  them  with  a 
spiritual  value ;  compare  His  use  of  clay  for  the 
blind  man,  touch  for  the  sick  in  many  instances, 
and  the  woman’s  touch  of  His  garment’s  hem. 
Compare  also  Acts  xix.  11,  12,  “  And  God  wrought 
special  miracles  by  the  hands  of  Paul ;  so  that  from 
his  body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs 
and  aprons,  and  the  diseases  departed  from  them.” 
St  Paul  would  be  the  last  to  claim  any  healing  virtue 
as  inherent  in  his  body,  but  he  did  realise  his  body 
as  a  much-used  vehicle  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  may 
be  said  that  these  were  all  cures  by  suggestion  or 
auto-suggestion.  Our  Lord  called  the  woman’s 
auto-suggestion  “  faith,”  and  if  He  used  physical 
vehicles  to  transmit  a  spiritual  stimulus  which,  in 
union  with  the  patient’s  faith,  became  effective 
for  physical  recovery,  are  not  His  disciples  justified 
in  doing  likewise  ? 


CHAPTER  XIII 


PRAYER 

The  characteristic  which  distinguishes  man 
from  the  other  creatures  on  this  earth  is 
his  consciousness  of  God.  This  gift  of  God- 
consciousness  is  a  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
like  all  the  gifts  of  life,  and  it  carries  with 
it  the  capacity  to  hold  converse  with  God, 
of  Whose  presence  we  are  aware.  Prayer 
is  converse  with  God,  and  the  nature  of 
our  converse  will  depend  upon  our  concep¬ 
tion  of  what  God  is  like.  The  savage 
sometimes  threatens  his  idol  with  punish¬ 
ment  if  his  god  will  not  grant  his  requests. 
The  child’s  idea  of  prayer — and  how  often 
the  childish  idea  persists  in  the  adult ! — ^is 
based  on  his  experience  of  his  father.  His 
father  is  wise  and  sometimes  stern,  but 
the  child  knows  of  certain  childish  wiles 
whereby  he  may  entice  his  parent  in  a  soft 
mood  to  let  him  have  some  indulgence 
which  might  otherwise  be  refused.  Prayer 

becomes  the  persuasion  of  God  to  give  us 
160 


f 


PRAYER 


161 


our  own  way.  The  worst  of  this  kind  of 
prayer  is  that  it  sometimes  succeeds,  with 
disastrous  consequence ;  “  He  gave  them 

their  desire,  and  sent  leanness  withal  into 
their  souls.”  As  our  idea  of  God  becomes 
enlarged,  we  come  to  beheve  more  surely 
in  Him  as  the  God  of  Righteousness — “  shall 
not  the  God  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  ” 
— and  we  cease  to  attempt  to  draw  God 
from  the  path  of  right  action.  We  grow  in 
our  conception  of  His  love,  and  realise 
that  the  Divine  love  is  not  the  petting  of 
His  favourites,  as  the  Israelites  were  prone 
to  suppose,  but  involves  fatherly  discipline. 
“You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  nations 
of  the  world.  Therefore  I  will  visit  upon 
you  all  your  iniquities,”  so  runs  the  warn¬ 
ing  of  the  prophet  of  the  Chosen  Race, 
lest  they  forget  that  their  election  carries 
responsibihty  as  well  as  privilege.  As  one 
grows  out  of  tribalism  and  the  narrow  kind 
of  nationahsm,  and  the  cramping  limitations 
of  class -interest,  one  comes  to  see  that 
God  loves  all  that  He  has  made,  that 
He  cares  for  the  savage  as  much  as  for 
the  civilised,  for  the  new-born  child  as  for 
the  adult,  for  the  dull-witted  labourer  in  the 
field  as  much  as  for  the  professor  in  the 


X 


162  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


university,  for  the  black  and  brown  and 
yellow  as  much  as  for  the  white.  This 
last  truth,  so  difficult  for  the  modern 
European  to  learn,  is  symbohsed  in  the 
glorious  Cathedral  at  Chartres,  where  the 
Madonna  and  Child  are  portrayed  in  various 
forms,  Negro  and  Asiatic  as  well  as  Western. 
Such  symbohsm  is  a  valuable  corrective 
to  the  habit  of  mind  out  of  which  many 
find  it  difficult  to  rise,  those  to  whom  it 
comes  almost  as  a  shock  to  realise  that 
our  Blessed  Lord  was  no  more  British  than 
Chinese,  or  rather  that  He  is  both  British 
and  Chinese ;  that  He  is  the  common  pos¬ 
session  of  all  races,  and  that  He  has  opened 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  equally  without 
distinction  to  all  mankind.  Still  more 
difficult  it  is  for  many  to  grow  out  of  the 
notion  that  God  loves  the  righteous  more 
than  the  wicked,  the  attitude  of  the  good 
and  earnest  Pharisees.  But  the  Cross  should 
for  ever  dispel  that  mist  of  thought,  for 
Christ  died  out  of  love  for  sinners.  The 
contemplation  of  Christ  victorious  on  the 
Cross  enlarges  our  idea  of  the  love,  the 
righteousness,  the  patience,  and  the  com¬ 
passion  of  God,  till  the  mind  reels  and  the 
heart  faints  before  the  impossible  effort  to 


PRAYER 


163 


comprehend  or  express  the  infinite  greatness 
of  the  love  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ, 
God  bearing  in  human  flesh  the  responsi¬ 
bility  and  the  pain  for  all  His  wayward 
children’s  sins. 

“  No  tongue  of  mortal  can  express, 

No  letters  write  its  blessedness  ; 

Alone  who  hath  thee  in  his  heart 
Knows,  love  of  Jesus  !  what  thou  art.” 

Christian  prayer  reaches  its  fulness  by 
the  fight  of  the  Atonement,  and  by  the 
coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Jesus  Christ 
has  proved  beyond  all  doubting  that  God’s 
love  is  the  supreme  power  in  the  universe  ; 
for  no  compelling  force  could  accomplish 
the  task  which  Christ  has  accomplished  for 
all  mankind,  and  sends  His  Church  to 
carry  on  for  individuals,  to  draw  by  the 
magnet  of  His  patient  love  the  hearts  and 
affections  of  men  out  of  the  mire  of  self- 
will  into  the  joy  of  giving  themselves  a 
living  sacrifice  to  serve  God  freely  for  love. 
The  Spirit  of  Jesus  teaches  us  that  God’s 
way  is  the  best  way,  that  in  His  will  is 
our  peace,  that  in  His  presence  continually 
with  us  there  is  the  fulness  of  joy.  More¬ 
over,  we  learn  that  the  joy  and  the  peace 


164  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


which  Christ  shares  with  us  are  not  affected 
by  earthly  circumstances.  The  peace  which 
Jesus  had  in  His  mind  gave  Him  perfect 
self-possession  in  His  trial  and  torture ;  it 
was  reached  by  His  victory  in  the  Garden, 
when  at  the  cost  of  the  Bloody  Sweat  He 
forced  His  human  will  into  perfect  ahgn- 
ment  with  His  Father’s  will,  and  thereupon 
received  by  the  angel’s  ministry  an  inflow 
of  strength  and  peace  that  the  concentrated 
malice  of  the  universe  could  not  break. 
While  “  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him  ” 
■ — the  prospect  of  winning  man’s  freedom 
to  enter  heaven — was  supreme  over  every 
torture  and  shame  inflicted  on  His  body 
and  mind.  Consequently,  at  the  moment 
of  acutest  pain,  as  the  nails  were  hammered 
through  His  flesh,  and  His  body  was  set  to 
hang  upon  its  wounds,  the  malice  could 
only  draw  from  Him  the  retaliation  of 
perfect  pity,  and  the  supreme  prayer  of 
intercession,  “  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do.”  The  great  gifts, 
then,  of  love  and  joy  and  peace,  the  fruits 
which  His  Spirit  plants  and  ripens  in  us, 
are  proof  against  the  most  crushing  adver¬ 
sity;  their  light  shines  the  more  brilliantly 
as  darkness  deepens  without. 


PRAYER 


165 


We  learn  from  Christ  to  realise  that 
there  is  no  satisfaction  in  the  gaining  of 
our  desires,  unless  our  desires  are  for  the 
accomphshment  of  God’s  purposes,  because 
His  purposes  are  best,  and  alone  bring  joy 
and  peace.  And  as  our  appetite  for  God 
grows,  we  enlarge  the  scope  of  our  prayers ; 
we  come  to  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less 
than  the  whole,  and  we  pray  with  Julian 
of  Norwich :  “  O  God,  give  me  Thyself, 

for  if  I  ask  anything  that  is  less,  ever  me 
wanteth.” 

But  there  is  nothing  vague  or  indefinite 
about  God’s  working.  He  is  not  short¬ 
sighted  Who  not  only  telleth  the  number 
of  the  stars,  but  also  counts  the  hairs  of 
our  head.  Nothing,  not  the  tiniest  need 
of  the  least  of  His  children,  escapes  His 
notice,  or  is  unregarded  by  His  love.  But 
He  will  not  deny  our  freedom,  nor  paralyse 
our  power,  by  doing  all  without  our  consent 
or  co-operation.  Therefore  while  He  gives 
the  world  sufficient  harvests  and  all  the 
necessities  of  hfe.  He  does  not  force  them 
upon  us,  but  commands  us  to  see  to  the 
equitable  distribution  of  His  gifts,  and  if 
mankind  still  groans  because  of  covetous¬ 
ness  and  selfishness  and  idleness,  God  will 


166  HEALTH,  AND  RELIGION 


not  interfere  by  force  and  rob  us  of  our 
freedom,  but  waits  in  patient  love  till  His 
children  become  willing  to  learn  from  Him 
how  to  love  one  another. 

Until  that  lesson  is  learned,  suffering  must 
go  on.  But  as  the  Christian  learns  to  pray, 
he  learns  not  to  increase  suffering  by  sin, 
but  to  relieve  it  by  love,  not  to  bear  suffer¬ 
ing  with  resentment,  but  to  triumph  in  it 
as  a  member  of  Christ,  using  it  to  become 
more  Christhke  in  sympathy  and  forbearance 
towards  sinners  who  make  suffering  abound. 
But  while  he  willingly  bears  one  kind  of 
suffering  and  cheerfully  carries  his  share 
of  the  world’s  burden  of  pain,  there  is  one 
cause  of  suffering  in  himself  that  he  will 
seek  to  avoid.  He  will  seek  to  avoid 
the  failures  in  himself  that  entail  suffering, 
failure  to  obey  the  laws  of  health,  failure 
to  maintain  the  peace  of  mind  and  of  nerve 
that  follow  from  trust  in  God,  all  failure 
to  live  by  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  in  loving 
obedience  to  God,  in  loving  service  of  man, 
and  in  consciousness  of  adequate  power  to 
triumph  over  all  outward  hindrances.  That 
is,  he  will  seek  to  avoid  ill-health  and 
breakdown,  because  it  is  not  God’s  will 
that  he  should  break  down.  Jesus  Christ 


PRAYER 


167 


has  shown  that  disease  is  inimical  to  God ; 
it  is  man’s  enemy  on  the  physical  plane, 
as  insanity  is  on  the  mental  plane,  and  sin 
on  the  spiritual.  Christ  tolerated  none  of 
these  enemies  of  man.  He  showed  God’s 
will  to  heal  and  to  pardon.  Therefore  the 
behever  in  Christ  will  pray  for  healing  and 
pardon  because  they  are  God’s  will.  The 
Apostles  were  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  Lord’s 
will  to  heal  when,  after  their  release  with 
threatening  from  the  chief  priests,  they 
prayed :  “  And  now.  Lord,  behold  their 

tlrreatenings  ;  and  grant  unto  Thy  servants 
to  speak  Thy  word  with  all  boldness  while 
Thou  stretchest  forth  Thy  hand  to  heal ; 
and  that  signs  and  wonders  may  be  done 
through  the  Name  of  Thy  Holy  Servant 
Jesus.”  They  prayed  thus  because  they 
knew  that  it  was  God’s  will  to  heal  and 
to  continue  to  do  mighty  works  by  their 
means  through  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ. 
And  nothing  has  ever  happened  since  to 
make  us  suppose  that  God  has  changed  His 
mind. 

“  The  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick, 
and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up.”  In  all 
Christ’s  practice  and  teaching,  and  in  His 
promises  and  commands,  there  is  nothing 


168  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


more  clear  and  certain  than  that  He  healed 
all  manner  of  diseases,  and  promised  that 
they  who  beheve  in  Him  should  be  able 
to  do  the  same.  That  the  Apostles  failed 
once,  in  the  case  of  the  demoniac  boy,  did 
not  prevent  them  from  succeeding  later. 
All  our  failures  in  prayer,  and  in  the  ministry 
of  God’s  gifts,  must  not  frighten  us  from 
persevering.  We  are  apt  to  be  like  Rhoda, 
who  could  not  believe  that  it  was  really 
Peter  at  the  door  when  they  had  just  been 
praying  for  his  dehverance  from  prison. 
And  the  signs  that  follow  our  little  efforts 
of  faith  seem  too  great  at  times  to 
believe.  Though  we  fail  often,  we  must 
continue,  only  using  larger  faith  when  less 
is  unavailing. 

‘‘  Fight  we  the  fight  with  sorrow  and 
sin,  to  set  their  captives  free.”  We  know 
God’s  will  to  heal,  we  know  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  of  our  whole  nature,  we  know  the 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  obstacles 
to  victory  are  not  of  God’s  placing,  they 
are  there  by  the  faithlessness  of  the  fallen 
world.  Then  in  spite  of  every  difficulty 
we  shall  continue  to  pray  that  God’s  saving 
will  may  be  done. 

The  apparently  incurable  recover,  the 


PRAYER 


169 


apparently  dying  are  healed.  Every  doctor 
knows  that.  And  the  whole  weight  of  our 
belief  should  be  that  God  uses  our  prayers 
for  the  healing  of  the  sick  both  in  body 
and  soul,  that  He  blesses  the  skill  of  the 
physician  and  guides  the  surgeon’s  hand, 
that  His  gentleness  is  in  the  nurse’s 
ministrations  ;  and  while  these  work  from 
without,  through  prayer  and  sacrament  the 
springs  of  life  within  are  renewed  and 
cleansed,  and  the  sick  man  attains  both 
peace  of  soul  and  restoration  of  mind  and 
body. 

But,  in  the  cases  where  the  prayers  seem 
to  fail,  the  sick  will  not  curse  his  intercessors 
for  their  and  his  want  of  faith.  He  will  be 
grateful  for  their  efforts  to  help,  and  if  liis 
life  is  to  be  sacrificed  because  the  Church’s 
corporate  faith  is  weak,  he  at  least  can 
die  in  love  to  God  and  his  neighbours,  and 
pass  into  the  peace  and  rest  and  restoration 
beyond,  which  was  unattained  here.  The 
prayers,  if  they  have  not  had  full  effect 
for  the  body,  will  at  least  avail  for  the 
soul. 

But  we  must  not  be  content  with  partial 
success.  Therefore,  while  the  doctors  study 
and  find  for  their  seeking  better  and  better 


170  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


means  of  physical  treatment,  while  the 
psychologist  seeks  ever  surer  ways  of  ministry 
to  a  mind  diseased,  we  must  continue  to 
use  the  spiritual  means  that  Christ  has  pro¬ 
vided,  and  co-operate  with  the  Holy  Spirit, 
along  with  physician,  psychotherapist,  and 
nurse,  for  the  healing  of  all  who  are  sick, 
that  God’s  glory  may  be  set  forth  in  de¬ 
liverance,  and  Christ’s  honour  vindicated  by 
the  answers  to  faithful  prayer. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


MINISTERING  TO  THE  SICK.  AD  CLERUM^ 

To  those  who  have  to  minister  to  the 
sick  a  great  opportunity  is  given,  and  to 
use  that  opportunity  rightly  requires  pre¬ 
paration.  We  are  ministers  of  Christ,  and 
stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  and  while 
we  offer  for  God’s  service  whatever  gifts 
of  skill  we  have,  we  have  to  remember  that 
it  is  not  merely  our  skill  or  wisdom,  but 
the  grace  of  God  which  we  are  to  minister. 
We  go  because  we  are  sent  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  we  are  to  be  Christophoroi 
both  in  the  active  and  in  the  passive  sense, 
upheld  ourselves  by  the  power  of  Christ, 
and  carrying  His  grace  to  the  sick.  By 
entrusting  ourselves  to  the  Holy  Spirit  we 
are  saved  from  the  diffidence,  hesitation, 
and  fear  that  would  beset  us  if  we  went 
merely  in  our  own  persons,  relying  on  our 
own  wisdom  or  holiness.  “  St  Patrick’s 

1  Tliis  cliapter_,  practically  as  it  stands,  has  been  issued 
as  a  pamphlet  by  the  Guild  of  S.  Raphael. 

Y  * 


171 


172  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


Breastplate  ”  might  well  be  put  on  when 
we  set  out  to  visit  the  sick. 

When  we  reach  the  bedside  it  is  im¬ 
portant  to  remember  that  we  are  not  so 
much  concerned  with  the  disease  as  with 
the  patient.  Forgetfulness  of  this  fact  often 
causes  a  check  to  faith,  especially  if  the 
illness  is  grave  and  the  prognosis  is  gloomy. 
It  is  possible  to  dwell  so  much  on  the 
gravity  of  the  disease  as  to  shut  out  the 
hope  of  recovery  from  our  horizon.  But  it 
is  to  the  person  that  we  are  to  minister,  to 
a  spiritual  being  endowed  with  eternal  hfe, 
a  member  of  Christ  whose  life  depends  upon 
the  maintenance  of  his  union  with  our  Lord. 
We  have  to  minister  divine  gifts  of  grace 
to  maintain  that  union,  and  repair  it  where 
it  has  become  defective.  The  patient  needs 
Christ’s  healing  grace  for  all  his  being,  and 
that  grace  is  sufficient  to  supply  all  that 
is  needed  for  spirit,  mind,  and  body. 

Reahsing  ourselves  as  members  of  Christ, 
we  desire  that  His  presence  should  be 
known  also  to  the  patient.  If  others  are 
there  to  assist  in  prayer  we  fall  back  on 
our  Lord’s  promise :  “  Where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  My  Name,  there 
am  I.”  Christ’s  message  is  ours :  ‘‘  Fear 


MINISTERING  TO  THE  SICK  173 


not,  only  believe.”  Believing  ourselves,  we 
are  to  lead  the  patient  to  trust  the  love  of 
God,  and  to  rely  on  His  will  to  heal  and 
deliver  Him  from  all  evil.  The  heart  of 
the  situation  is  that  God  is  here  in  all  His 
power  and  love  and  wisdom,  and  desires  to 
make  the  sick  man  whole. 

Our  first  aim,  then,  is  to  inspire  the 
patient  with  a  sense  of  God’s  presence,  and 
to  help  him  to  realise  that  God’s  presence 
implies  the  presence  of  Almighty  Love,  and 
the  peace  which  passes  understanding.  Our 
conversations  will  aim  at  encouraging  faith 
and  hope.  There  may  be  slowness  to  be¬ 
lieve  or  to  hope,  owing  to  wrong  thinking 
about  God,  or  to  sin  producing  fear,  and 
these  will  require  to  be  dealt  with. 

For  a  burdened  conscience  there  is  the 
benefit  of  absolution.  As  the  patient  comes 
to  realise  that  God’s  love  is  his  in  spite 
of  his  sin,  true  sorrow  for  sin,  as  distin¬ 
guished  from  fear  of  punishment,  will  grow, 
and  confession  will  come  more  easily.  It 
it  to  be  noted  that  the  sins  which  lie  at 
the  root  of  the  trouble  may  have  passed 
from  the  conscious  memory,  and  yet  be 
at  work  in  the  sub-conscious  mind.  But 
when  the  patient  has  made  the  best  con- 


174  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


fession  he  can,  he  is  to  be  assured  that  God 
accepts  his  apology,  and  that  His  loving 
forgiveness  covers  all  sins  whether  remem¬ 
bered  or  forgotten.  The  pardoning  love  of 
God  is  to  be  trusted  without  misgiving. 

After  absolution  the  patient  is  able  with 
a  quiet  mind  to  enter  into  our  prayer  en¬ 
trusting  him  into  the  loving  Hands  of  God, 
and  to  "receive  the  ministration  of  the 
Laying-on  of  Hands  in  the  Name  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  this  ministry  we  act  as  members 
of  His  Body,  relying  on  His  Spirit.  It  is 
He  who  makes  all  things  new,  and  restores 
the  sick  by  His  gift  of  more  abundant  Hfe. 

The  patient  is  now  prepared  for  Holy 
Communion,  wherein  he  is  to  expect  the 
inflowing  of  the  perfect  life  of  Christ  to 
cleanse  and  refresh  and  invigorate  him  both 
in  body  and  soul. 

We  have  also  for  the  patient’s  aid  the 
gift  of  Holy  Unction,  for  use  according 
to  primitive  custom  for  the  heahng  of  the 
body.  Bishops  are  in  many  cases  willing 
to  bless  oil  for  this  purpose,  and  it  would 
be  well  if  blessed  oil  could  be  kept  in  readi¬ 
ness  in  every  parish  church. 

We  can  also  resort  to  the  teaching  of 
auto-suggestion  for  the  development  of  active 


MINISTERING  TO  THE  SICK  175 


faith.  Psychologists  are  teaching  us  what 
saints  have  always  known,  that  the  trustful 
contemplation  of  God’s  Spirit  at  work  helps 
the  reahsation  of  that  work.  M.  Coue’s 
formula :  “  Every  day  in  every  way  I  am 
growing  better  and  better  ”  repeated  twenty 
times  mechanically  night  and  morning, 
without  any  mental  effort,  seems  to  have 
great  potency  to  help  the  realisation  of 
improvement  both  in  mental  and  physical 
disorders.  This  can  be  used  with  a  larger 
imphcation :  “God  has  made  me  for  eternal 
Hfe  because  He  loves  me.  I  have  been 
joined  to  the  Lord  Jesus  in  Baptism,  I  have 
received  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Confirmation. 
He  will  not  cease  from  His  work  until  He 
makes  me  perfect  in  the  hkeness  of  Christ. 
He  has  led  me  to  be  sorry  for  my  sins,  to 
hate  and  confess  them.  He  has  shown  to 
me  the  pardoning  love  of  God.  His  work 
is  going  on  within  me  now,  in  my  body 
and  soul.  I  give  myself  into  His  power,  and 
by  His  work  in  me,  never  ceasing,  day  by 
day,  in  every  way,  I  am  growing  better 
and  better.”  We  keep  in  mind  in  all  that 
we  teach  that  it  is  the  healing  of  the  person 
as  a  whole,  not  merely  of  one  side  of  his 
nature,  that  Christ  comes  to  give. 


176  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


In  every  parish  there  must  be  some  who 
would  find  themselves  called  to  pray  for  their 
fellow-members  of  the  Church  in  sickness. 
Why  not  have  a  branch  of  the  Guild  of 
St  Raphael  in  every  parish  ?  Our  Lord 
has  given  such  definite  promises  to  faithful 
prayer  that  we  should  not  hesitate  to  act 
on  them.  Is  it  not  fear  that  makes  us 
hesitate  to  claim  all  that  Christ  promises  ? 

Our  ability  to  help  the  sick  will  depend 
on  no  small  extent  upon  the  teaching  which 
has  been  given  to  the  congregation  as  a 
whole.  Our  work  will  be  made  much 
easier  if  we  have  been  able  to  bring  home 
to  the  people  with  conviction  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  grace  conveyed  by  the  sacra¬ 
ments,  e.g.  Holy  Communion,  Absolution, 
and  Holy  Unction,  and  how  their  benefits 
are  appropriated  by  faith.  We  are  handi¬ 
capped  in  some  places  by  a  tradition  of 
false  teaching  concerning  the  gift  of  Absolu¬ 
tion,  and  for  fear  of  offence  we  may  have 
hesitated  to  give  clear  teaching  with  regard 
to  sacramental  confession.  But  is  it  not 
more  dangerous  to  withhold  teaching  which 
may  be  the  means  of  saving  life,  than  to 
risk  offending  some  by  speaking  clearly  ? 
The  words  solemnly  pronounced  over  us 


MINISTERING  TO  THE  SICK  177 


when  the  ordaining  hands  were  laid  upon 
our  heads  give  us  our  authority  to  minister 
forgiveness.  If  we  make  it  plain  that  this 
ministry  is  a  loving  gift  of  God  for  the 
help  of  those  who  need  it,  and  that  its 
reception,  like  the  reception  of  all  God’s 
loving  gifts,  is  a  matter  of  free  wiU  and 
not  compulsion,  we  shall  gain  many  who 
would  otherwise  go  in  want  of  this  means 
of  help. 

The  true  activities  of  the  Church  are 
the  activities  of  the  Body  of  Christ.  His 
Spirit  is  the  agent  and  we  are  the  members 
at  His  disposal.  By  ourselves  we  can  do 
nothing,  but  by  His  Spirit  we  can  carry 
out  the  work  to  which  we  are  summoned. 
Our  Lord  has  very  plainly  shown  that  for 
the  successful  ministrations  of  His  gift  of 
healing  there  must  be  trust  in  Him  and 
prayer.  We  ought  to  have  the  same  con¬ 
fidence  in  ministering  the  gift  of  healing  as 
we  have  in  ministering  every  other  sacra¬ 
ment  given  in  Christ’s  Church. 

It  may  be  that  physical  improvement 
will  not  follow,  and  the  patient  may  have 
to  leave  his  body.  I  do  not  think  that 
necessarily  means  failure.  If  the  sick  man 
has  come  to  peace  with  God,  and  has  passed 


178  HEALTH  AND  RELIGION 


in  faith  in  God’s  love,  may  we  not  feel  that 
he  has  both  been  delivered  from  his  disease, 
and  has  passed  into  more  abundant  life 
beyond  ?  But  as  our  experience  grows  we 
shall  be  able  to  recall  case  after  case  in 
which  patients,  apparently  past  hope,  have 
been  enabled  to  recover,  and  have  gained 
not  only  bodily  health,  but  a  sense  of  God’s 
love  and  grace  deeper  than  they  had  before. 

If  by  our  ministration  of  the  Word  and 
Sacraments  we  have  enabled  the  patient 
to  reahse  his  communion  with  God  through 
Jesus  Christ,  if  he  has  come  to  commit 
himself  without  fear  into  the  hands  of  his 
all-loving  Creator,  if  he  has  come  to  this 
assurance,  then  henceforth  no  experience, 
whether  here  or  beyond,  shall  ever  be  able 
to  separate  him  from  the  love  of  God, 
upon  Whose  grace  he  may  rely  for  ever; 
then,  whether  he  leaves  his  physical  body 
or  remains  for  a  time  functioning  in  it, 
our  task  has  been  successfully  accomplished. 
For  he  has  attained  health  as  we  defined 
it  at  the  beginning ;  he  has  gained  inner 
peace  and  harmony,  and  has  become  happily 
adapted  to  his  environment,  ix,  to  God  in 
Whom  he  has  his  being. 


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